


Blue's Birds

by TheAnarchyOfSilence



Category: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
Genre: F/M, Family Fluff, Rain Harley, betcha didnt see that coming, im trying, the flock just got bigger, yano what you probably did
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-21
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2018-04-16 12:56:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 67,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4626114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAnarchyOfSilence/pseuds/TheAnarchyOfSilence
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Sequel to My Little Bird] Two years later and the village is still living peacefully under Caesar's rule. But one day Malcolm receives a visitor and Rain unearths secrets about her past and herself that she never knew.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Two years had passed, and very much had happened. For one, many of my friends had settled down, a few even had their own children. Ash had a daughter now. A cute little girl with dark fur and her father's brown and green eyes. She was much like Ash, but she had her mother's patience. Her name was Xena. Brent and Deja had also had a child, a cute little boy named Emory. He was quite the opposite of his mostly soft spoken parents. He craved adventure, and he got many other children in trouble when he convinced them to go along with his antics. Lisa and Thade recently married, just a few months ago. So far they've not given any hints to having their own children, but Deja and I suspected it won't be too much longer. But there was a couple who had just announced a new pregnancy.

Caesar and Cornelia were having another baby.

We were all ecstatic for them. Especially Haze, he couldn't wait to have a little sibling, besides, he loved children. Though he was only just transitioning out of childhood and was skipping between prepubescence and adolescence, he loved the younger kids, and they loved him. He and Harley are still as close as ever, both of them were learning to fish and forage, and from what I've heard, they're both excelling. I was happy for the both of them, soon enough they'd be joining Caesar and Blue Eyes' hunting bands to learn close and personal.

Sage and River had grown very much, and they were both very talkative. Many of the newest generation were, each one speaking aloud more and more. Many apes' speech had improved very much, with the help of our human friends. Many had a kind of silent agreement, those who were willing to accept the help got to learn from humans how to pronounce certain words correctly and more easily, and in exchange many apes taught humans how to sign. My human anxiety had gotten much better, no one had had the guts to try and physically hurt me, though I had been talked down to before. I ended up surprising myself, I had stood up for myself for the first time in my life.

Living with the apes had changed me, made me braver, more confident, and it allowed me to end the sneering and teasing by myself. Once the message had gotten across to the few who had the courage to disrespect me in such ways in my own home that I wouldn't stand for it any longer, I was left alone. What really shocked me, was the fact that a few even apologized to me. That had been the last thing I had expected, but who was I to look a gift horse in the mouth? I accepted their apologies, although timidly. I didn't want to have that baggage on my shoulders, all that was over and behind me, and if they wanted to recant for their misdeeds I wasn't going to stop them. In all honesty it was a great relief.

My twins were in school now, being taught by Maurice. The wise old orangutan had needed to up his game in the teaching business, as the children just kept learning faster and faster. The twins had grown very much, and while Sage was still small, she had caught up with her brother greatly. River was curious about everything, he was always trying to get into things, and he spent a lot of time questioning things. Not in a bad way, though, he wanted to know how everything worked and why everything was. Though always trying to answer his questions got tiring after a while, Blue Eyes and I were proud of him anyway. Sage had a thirst for knowledge as well, but she was quieter about it than her brother. She would rather try to figure it out on her own first before asking certain questions.

She had shaken her shyness off to an extent. She was shy around strangers, but once she got comfortable, she was humorous and charming. River had those traits as well, though he wasn't timid like Sage, he greeted openly and warmheartedly. Sage had retained the irises she and I shared, a part of me had wondered if maybe they would turn green and stay green, but like the majority of me had assumed, they hadn't.

River was very protective of his sister, and vice versa. They reminded me very much of the relationship I had with both of my brothers, and I couldn't be more proud in the close bond they shared. My son had grown very much, and while he wasn't overtly large for his age, I couldn't help but be prided by his growth, both mentally and physically. He loved solving problems in his head, but the problem with that was he was also good at sneaking around obstacles, and Emory's influence had turned the child into an avid prankster. You can imagine my mixed feelings towards that.

At this moment, I was happily asleep beside Blue Eyes. Or at least I had been, until a weight climbed onto my hip.

"Mom," a voice whispered.

I breathed in and tried to go back to sleep, but my daughter tried again. "Mama, wake up."

"Don't give in, Rain. She'll go back to sleep." Blue Eyes groaned from behind me, woken by the sound of Sage's voice. I don't know if it was the protectiveness, but Blue Eyes had turned into a very light sleeper.

I sighed and rolled onto my back, Sage sliding to sit on my tummy. "What is it, Sage?"

"You gave in." Blue Eyes moaned, flipping to his back as well, his hands went to slid down his face dramatically. I gave his arm a half hearted swat and rubbed an eye, trying to pay attention to my daughter.

"Can I go play with Pericles and Harley?" She said, her fingers tracing the scars on my stomach.

I paused. "What time is it?"

"Um...sunrise..."

"Why so early?"

_"Don't know."_ She signed.

I raised a suspicious brow. "Blue Eyes." I lightly shook his arm. He had started snoring again, but when I shook him, he snorted awake and propped himself up on his elbows. He grunted tiredly in acknowledgment.

"Sage, Peri and Harley. Yes or no?" I sighed, wishing for just ten more minutes of sleep. A couple I didn't know had a child two days ago, and I had accidentally spent longer than I intended at the celebration last night. Blue Eyes was there even longer than I, so I knew he must have been aching for more sleep.

"Where's River?" He asked groggily.

"Went with, Uncle Ash." Sage answered with her small little voice. "Can I go?"

"Where?" Blue Eyes asked, not seeming to recall my recent words.

"With Peri and Harley." The both of us answered in unison.

"I suppose. Be smart" He hinted at her to not pull anything. I don't think either of us could deal with scolding our children this early.

"Thank you!" She squeaked, leaning down to hug me.

I rubbed the back of her shoulder, "thank your father." I reminded her.

"Thanks, papa." She moved to him and kissed his cheek after giving him a hug. He reached up and cupped her upper back in return before she darted out of the hollow, the vines swinging in her wake.

Both Blue Eyes and I let out a breath in unison and rolled onto our sides, facing each other. Blue Eyes pulled me into his arms and I kissed his throat. "More sleep?" I murmured.

"You always know what to say." Blue Eyes sighed humorously, letting our heads rest together.

I smiled and nuzzled into him, relishing in his warmth and the comforting pine sap scent of his fur. He adjusted his grip on me and we drifted off together in the dimly lit hollow.

-two hours later-

When I awoke again, it was to the feeling of something pressed to my mouth. I recognized the feeling immediately, and started returning Blue Eyes' kiss softly. I reached up and lightly rested a finger on his jaw as the kiss continued. When he pulled away, I opened my eyes and loosely laid my arms against his shoulders, my fingers lacing lightly behind his head.

"Morning, Bird." He said from atop me.

"Good morning, Blue." I answered, turning away to yawn into my pillow. "The twins are still out?" I asked. He nodded with a grunt.

"We should probably go check on them, huh?"

"Probably."

"Please don't let anything be on fire." I muttered as we got up. I found a shirt to put on and ran my fingers through my hair quickly. I paused when I felt Blue Eyes comb his fingers through the underside of my hair. I turned around and fixed his bed-head while he continued to groom out my hair. When we were both satisfied with our work, we twined our fingers and made it out into the sunshine.

My eyes scanned the village for my two troublemakers, but I didn't see them. Blue Eyes and I exchanged a glance and started going around the village, asking if anyone had seen either of the twins. We didn't have any leads until Maurice found us.

_"Looking for the twins?"_ He asked.

Blue Eyes nodded and I replied, "Yeah, have you seen them?"

He pointed us towards the healing hut, and Blue Eyes and I were immediately alarmed. Why would they be there? Both of us hurried toward said building, but in the back of my mind, I noted that Maurice didn't seemed particularly alarmed, but of course, my mind pushed that little thought aside and started thinking of ways they could have gotten hurt. They'd banged themselves up before, and though I had no evidence to believe they were terribly ill, I still couldn't help but think of every possible way they could have been injured.

When we made to the hut, I spotted Sparrow inside, and she told us that they were upstairs. That immediately calmed me down, the upstairs floor was mostly used for training apprentices and such. But neither had thus far shown any interest in becoming an Oba, so that left Blue Eyes and I to wonder why they would be up there. We climbed the wooden ramp that had been built to connect to the second floor, and it wasn't hard to find them after we breached the next floor.

A soft smile drifted over my features when I seen a group of children sitting straight and erect, listening to old Deuce's lecture. Blue Eyes and I exchanged a smiling glance, and we stepped to the side to listen in on the rest of the old Oba's words of medical wisdom. Of course none of it was very advanced, but still, the small group of maybe six children listened intently, soaking up every word. Blue Eyes and I leaned against a wall, our fingers laced once again. But soon we had to draw back, because the lecture drew to a close and like ants, the children dissipated.

"Whoa, hey there. Where's the fire?" I laughed, stepping in intercept my son and daughter as they darted past.

"Mom! Hi, what doing here?" River exclaimed when he jumped into my arms.

"Looking for you. Have you been here this whole time? I thought you were with Ash." I replied, glancing at Sage, who now resided in her father's arms.

_"I was. But we came here."_ He signed.

"Any reason?" Blue Eyes asked.

"Curious." Sage, River and myself chimed in unison.

All four of us chuckled, and Blue Eyes wrapped an arm around my waist, his other adjusting so Sage could sit in the crook of his arm. I felt a strange concoction of sadness and pride twinge at my heart at the thought that she wouldn't be that small forever. And neither would River. It made me tighten my grip slightly around him. He wouldn't be this small forever either. He had the build of both his father and grandfather, and I knew, even in his young age, that he would without a doubt have the burly build his bloodline included.

"There's the happy family." A voice chimed. We turned to see Deja approaching, her mask doing nothing to conceal the smile in her evergreen eyes.

"Hi, Deja." I smiled.

"Hi, Auntie Deja." The twins chimed together.

"Hello River, little Sage. How are you both?" She replied, happily greeting my children. Remember when I mentioned that the colony's verbal speech had improved? Deja was no exception.

"Fine, thank you." They said, once again in stereo. I wasn't sure if it was the twin bond between them or not, but they had a habit of saying things at the same time. In any other case, I would have found it comically cliché, but as their mother, I was biased, and found it completely adorable. Another thing about them I was prideful about was their manners, Blue Eyes and I had started teaching them the importance of good manners very quickly after they were born. There was no way I was going to raise a rude child, let alone two.

"Do you two happen to know where Emory is?" She asked, taking up an opportunity to check on her son.

The twins exchanged a glance and shook their heads. _"Sorry."_ Sage signed.

_"That's alright."_ She nodded. _"I was just checking."_ She signed back. 

"Want us to keep an eye out for him?" I offered.

"Would you?" She smiled gratefully.

"Sure." Blue Eyes nodded.

"Thanks guys. I should go. People always getting scraped up." She shrugged with a smile.

"Okay. Say bye." I added to the twins.

"Bye Auntie Deja."

"Bye."

"See you later, guys." She waved, giving a wink to the children.

With that, we excited the building. "Did you guys eat breakfast?" I asked.

"A little. Not much hungry then." River answered.

"Hungry now?" Blue Eyes asked.

River paused to think about it. "Hungry now."

"What about you, little love?" I turned to Sage as we walked. She nodded her head and leaned against Blue Eyes' chest

"Breakfast for lunch it is." I chirped happily, smiling at the thought of food. You'd think that with the feast that had been laid out last night, I would have eaten my fill. But, alas, my old enemy of forgetfulness had kicked in and food spaced my mind completely. But now I was working up an appetite, and rabbit and some nuts sounded perfect right now.

* * *

**Okay, so! Here's the sequel, I hope to hear what you think as this progresses. I'll do my best to update frequently, but school and all that other important crap come first. I really hope you enjoy the story :)**


	2. Chapter 2

"Easy...easy. Good boy." I softly stroked the large Clydesdale stallion. He quite his fussing after another moment and I praised him, scratching under his mane.

Clydesdales had been integrated into the apes' herds, thanks to yours truly. When the twins were about a year old, I had spotted a herd of Clydesdales in the meadows not too far from the village. Lisa and I spent maybe two months getting them acquainted to our presences, and soon enough we had them on the road to domestication. Now, after another year, the herd was mostly docile, now that they were used to being ridden and pulling carts. The new breed had also improved our farming, the large horses were much more suited to pulling tills through the soil than the black-clad mustangs we were limited to. And the Clydesdales' large size gave the heavier gorillas and orangutans mounts who wouldn't be hindered by the massive weight. Some were catching on to the apes' sign-training, but some still had a ways to go. The one I was working with was a large, sweet boy. I called him Konrad.

He had a dark coat with a bright white blaze down his face. His feathered hooves where painted white as well, and he had the warmest brown eyes you'd ever see. He had taken a liking to me quickly, and surprisingly, he liked Zira as well. The fiery hearted mare was just plain indignant towards him, bullying him and doing everything she could think of to get Konrad to go away. But he only brushed off her attempts and stayed close to her side much of the time. The plucky mare came off like it annoyed her to high heaven, but I could see that the big lug was getting through her rough exterior.

Right now though, she was stewing with jealousy. I had to separate her from the rest of the herd, as she kept stomping around and nipping harshly at everything that even twitched in her direction. Right now, she was braying loudly and pawing at the grass, clawing up piles of grass and soil. Konrad bobbed his head and started fussing again, startled and uneasy by Zira's anger. I ignored her though, keeping my full attention on the powerful animal in front of me. If he got too fidgety, another outburst from Zira could send him running, and I'd most likely be trampled. So I kept up my soothing gestures and words in hopes of calming down the large stallion. I heard something peculiar that made me glance behind me, and what I saw made my jaw drop.

"Sage! Get back." I called, trying not to startle anyone.

My young daughter was sitting on the wooden railing of Zira's personal stall that I had segregated her to. The dappled mare had her head cocked to the side, watching my youngest suspiciously underneath her ebony forelock.

"I'm alright, Mother." She answered.

"Do as I say. She's in a mood, it's not safe. Get down from there, _now_." I replied, holding Konrad's bridle to keep track of him as I watched Zira.

"But-"

"Now." I repeated.

She knew better than to question me twice when Zira was involved. I understood her confidence, the horse had never made any aggressive moves towards either of my children, but I still felt better when Sage got off the rail and backed a few feet away.

"Thank you." I called, much more softly.

I turned back to Konrad and gave his large cheek a few taps, alerting him that we'd be going back to training. I backed away from him a few feet, holding a hand in the 'stay' position. His body language was perked and alert, his eyes tracking my every move.

"What're you doing?" By the closeness of her voice, I could tell Sage was now only a few feet away from me.

"Shhh. Don't distract him. Just watch." I answered, my eyes never leaving the gargantuan animal.

I moved in a circle around him, making gestures to tell the horse to follow me, but not to approach me. Konrad did well, rotating around with me as I circled, and when we had gone a full three hundred and sixty degrees, I smiled and allowed him to approach. He picked up his dinner plate hooves and bobbed his head with a nicker, slowly allowing me to remove the bridle from his face. I softly told Sage to move as I motioned the tank of a horse to go towards the pasture with the rest of the herd. I followed alongside his shoulder, pushing him to give Zira a wide birth as we passed her. She snorted at him and pawed at the dirt again, digging a miniature trench in the sea of grass.

"Steady, Zira." I held out a hand to try and keep her calm.

Konrad's ears turned back, but he continued to move toward the pasture gate. When we arrived, I opened it and patted his tree trunk neck, and sent him off into the herds. Then I moved back towards my mare.

"Come on, Zee. You know you're my best girl, why so jealous of the big guy, huh?" I said, coming to lean against the rail.

_"I think she has a crush on him."_ Sage signed. _"How come you can touch the fence and I can't?"_

_"Because I wasn't here when you were touching it and I had to stay with Konrad."_ I replied. _"And I think he has a crush on her and Zira knows it. I think she's playing hard to get."_

_"What's playing hard to get mean?"_

_"I'll tell you later. Where's your father?"_ I changed the subject, realizing my small slip. She wasn't old enough for that just yet. Maybe next year, though.

"He and uncles went for a walk. River too." She answered.

"A walk where? In the village?"

"No. Forest."

"And your brother is with them?"

"Yes."

"Alright," I shrugged before turning back to Zira.

"You done giving me the cold shoulder? Come on." I said to the horse. She had turned her back on me completely during the small dialogue I had had with my daughter.

"Zira." I called when she only turned her ears back on me. "How old are you? Come on, stop being such a baby. Zira..."

I gave her another few seconds, and she turned her head to look back when she didn't hear me any longer. I rested my head on my arms as I leaned against the wooden rail, trying to appeal to her sweeter side. "Come on, Zee. You know I love you."

Almost as if she could understand me, she snorted and turned around. Her neck stretched out and she sniffed at me, then at Sage. She blew air in Sage's face and the child laughed, but luckily she had the sense not to try to touch her. Zira seemed to love Sage and River just as much she did me, but I wasn't going to take a chance, not with my children. The gorgeous mare could still care about Blue Eyes less, though. Naturally I found that hysterical.

Zira lifted her head to me, and she sniffed at my face. I reached out tentatively and scratched under her chin. That was her spot, she couldn't keep up her rough façade when the underside of her chin was scratched at. The horse let out a sound that started in a high whine then dropped off into a quick, heavy sigh. Her ears splayed sideways and her eyelids dropped low in her blissfully sedated state. Sage giggled at the sight of the fiery spirited horse dropping all her defenses in the wake of a mere chin scratch.

"That's my good girl. Come on, let's get you back inside so you can kick Konrad's butt again." I said humorously as I opened the gate to her stall.

I let Sage swing onto my back as I gestured Zira to the pasture. She waited obediently for me to catch up and open the gate for her, and I gave her another good rub to praise her for her sudden good behavior. I patted her rump and sent her trotting into the pasture. Sage moved into my arms and we stood watching the herd mingle.

_"When do I get to ride her?"_ Sage signed.

_"Who?"_

_"Zira."_

I arched a brow. _"You've ridden her before."_

_"No, I mean by myself."_ She shook her head.

I looked down into her deep purple eyes, at the flecks of gold swirling in her irises and imagined her laying on the ground in a twisted heap. I hid my grimace and inwardly took a deep breath. That wouldn't happen. "When you're bigger." I replied.

"But I'm big now." She pulled a face.

"Yes, you are. But not big enough. Zira has a wild spirit, you know that. You're not riding her on your own until you've learned how to ride well enough to handle her. She's very strong, and I don't want you to get hurt." I explained.

"But if I learn on Zira, won't that make riding other horses, easier?" She countered innocently. I stole a moment to marvel at how well she could speak at such a young age.

I sighed, putting myself back in the conversation. "It's dangerous, love. You'll ride her one day, I promise."

Sage gave a frustrated sigh. "Okay..." She slumped in my arms, looking out over the training field, where several other apes were working with horses.

I smiled at her little pout. "Come on, what say you we go take a bath?"

Sage brightened up at that. "Yes please!"

My children seemed to open a new door in ape evolution. Both of them loved water, and both were good swimmers. As soon as they started showing signs of interest in the water, Blue Eyes and I had explored the possibility that they could be aquatically adapt. What we found was that not only did they have the ability to swim, but they _wanted_ to be in the water. A good part of me thought that apes already had the ability to swim, but their instincts made them naturally not like the water, but of course there was no way to prove my theory. I had discussed it with Maurice and he thought it was a plausible idea, but he had the same disdain for large masses of water as most others.

Sage and I hummed a little tune my mother used to sing to me when I was little as we walked through the village. When we got to the main communal clearing, we happened to run into Blue Eyes, Ash, Thade and Rocket, as well as River as they returned home. Blue Eyes stopped to wrap his arms around me in greeting, kissing Sage's cheek.

"Where are you two going?" He asked, River hopping from Rocket's back onto Blue Eyes to tug at Sage's ear teasingly. She gave a small shriek of indignation and poked at her brother. Blue Eyes pulled River's grip away from his sister's ear and told him to leave her be.

"We were just going to take a bath. Wanna join?" I asked, glancing between Blue and River.

River smiled brightly and looked down at Blue Eyes from his perch expectantly. After pausing for suspense, it only took a moments eye contact with his blue-green eyed son for tall ape to sigh and shrug and take me by the waist to lead me back out of the village. About a year back, Ash and Blue Eyes had found a small waterfall-fed cove sheltered from the lake, and now we used it as private bathing falls. Ash's family were the only other ones who knew about it, and we liked it like that. It meant I didn't have to worry about my modesty as long as any other males besides Blue Eyes and River were absent.

So when we arrived, I stripped out of all my clothes and slipped into the water, Sage smiling out over the water from my arms. A few lily pads could be found in clusters around the edge of the pool, and the bottom was laid with smooth flat stones, coated in algae. I found a seat on a rock underneath the gentle flow of the waterfall. I heard a splash and looked up to see River pulling Blue Eyes into the water with both hands clasped around his father's large hand. I smiled, the sight reminding me of the first time Blue Eyes kissed me. Now I was looking at the aftermath of that one impulse, and I couldn't be happier.

River managed to wade in until the water was up to his chest with Blue Eyes' hand still in his grip, but once it started rising above his shoulder, the boy seemed torn between swimming toward his sister and I and keep tugging Blue Eyes along. The eldest prince seemed to pick up on his son's inner struggle and scooped him up into his arms, completing the journey to reach Sage and I under the waterfall. The look in Blue Eyes' eye told me the same memory was flicking through his mind as well, and he cupped my hip bone in a hand and pulled me to him, laying his lips on mine. I reached up and laid a gentle hand against his chest as I kissed him back. We both pulled away when our smiles grew too wide from Sage and River's all too obvious grimacing.

"Eww..." River moaned.

"Why you have to do that?" Sage shuddered dramatically.

"Do what?" Blue Eyes raised a brow as the twins moved down to sit beside each other on a rock. "You mean this?"

With that, Blue Eyes grabbed me and dipped me low so our heads were near where our children now resided, and crashed his lips down onto mine. I would have laughed had I not suddenly been caught up with clinging to my husband's neck and returning his kiss. The twins cried out in disgust and made a big deal about turning away and gagging. At that, both Blue Eyes and I burst out laughing. He helped me stand upright and supported me as I giggled against his chest. The twins glared up at us, River folded his arms over his chest cutely.

"What?" I asked.

"Gross, mom." He glared up at me, looking just like his father.

"Oh, get over it." I waved a hand at him.

"Get a room." Sage muttered.

"You'll be doing the same thing one day." I replied dismissively.

"No she won't." Blue Eyes grunted. "Not my ladybird."

I smiled at the protective use of his nickname for Sage. Sometimes he called River jaybird. And of course, he was adamant to call me Bird for the rest of our lives. Not that I was complaining.

"Blue, she's gonna grow up one day. So is he." I reminded him gently.

"I'm still coming to terms with, the fact that he'll grow up. Not ready to think of my ladybird getting older." Then he turned to said child. "Don't grow up."

Sage giggled, her disgust at our PDA forgotten.

"Okay, whatever helps you sleep at night, Bear Boy." I smiled, turning and taking the twins into my arms and sitting down. "Bath time now."

We all sat on the rocks, Blue Eyes helping me to clean up our little trouble makers. Sage's eyes glinted orange and green against the clear water, and I breathed in the scent of the forest as I combed through the fur between River's shoulder blades, relishing in the clean air filling my lungs. We spent the rest of the afternoon laughing and playing in the water. But little did I know what the next day would bring my family.


	3. Chapter 3

"Is there anywhere that we could talk in private?" Dad asked as he and Alex joined my family, as well as Ash's by a fire hearth on the next afternoon. Blue Eyes and I exchanged a glance.

"In the village? Not many places." Blue Eyes answered, myself nodding in agreement beside him.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

Malcolm seemed to be searching for the right words to use. "I don't know. Yes. Maybe. I don't know."

I bit the inside of my lip in worry, but I was distracted by a certain voice.

"Auntie Rain? What's wrong?" I looked down at Xena, Ash's daughter.

"Nothing for you to worry about. Any of you." I turned my gaze to add my twins in on my statement. "Sage, Riv, stay with Auntie Dana and Uncle Ash, okay? We need to talk with Grandpa and Uncle Alex."

The two nodded and Blue Eyes and I got up, ready to lead my father and brother away from the village, away from prying ears.

"Caesar should hear this as well. Maybe Maurice, too." Dad added.

We stopped, and Blue Eyes quickly retrieved his father from Home Tree. The three of us continued to lead Malcolm and Alexander away from the busy bustle of the village and into the forest, not far from the outer wall. But before we got there, three humans with a dog cautiously approached, looking to Malcolm with a questioning look in their eyes. My father nodded at them and turned to explain that they were apart of whatever this was too. I felt uneasy and unnerved by my father's behavior. He was hiding something, and though I knew that I'd most likely discover what it was within minutes, I was still worried. I knew Blue Eyes could tell when he took up my hand in his and gave me a curiously worried look. That's when I realized I was nibbling my bottom lip. I didn't stop, but I tried to silently reassure him that I was alright. We reached a small glade in the forest, sheltered by pine trees. The scent of their damp bark helped comfort me, reminding me of the security and warmth of Blue Eyes' embrace. I turned and leaned against a tree, taking a moment to relish in the feel of the bark scratching my shoulders.

_"Alright. What's going on?"_ I signed, not particularly caring if the three humans could understand or not.

Malcolm licked his lips, trying to gain some composure, but I could see how nervous he was. "We've...we have reason to believe that..." He trailed off again, and I stood up straight, suddenly alarmed.

"What?" I stole a glance at the three humans who still hadn't said anything. Two men and a woman, all of them were unfamiliar to me.

"Your mother may still be alive."

Something inside me dropped. It could have been my stomach, or my heart. It also could've been my lungs.

I couldn't figure out if I was holding my breath or if the pain in my chest was from drawing oxygen in too quickly. My eyes burned but my hands suddenly felt cold and I desperately wanted to climb a tree and never stop until my heart sputtered.

"Wh-why would you say that? She's dead. You said so yourself, you all did." I shook my head, denial laying over my mind like a damp towel over a fever.

Suddenly the words of a man who came along when my father first brought a human team up to the dam two years ago, his name long forgotten to me. _"The Harley bloodline is dead."_

"I know. I know. I thought she was, they told us she was but..." He gestured toward the three people who had tagged along.

One of the men stepped forward, the shorter one. He approached slowly, his countenance ringing with nothing but sympathy, but still I shied away from him, seeking refuge by Blue Eyes' side. The man raised his hands to show he meant to harm, but I still regarded him with mistrust, reverting back to when I had zero tolerance for interaction with my own species. Blue Eyes wrapped his arms tightly around my waist, very aware of how much I needed his strength right now. The man reached into the small backpack he wore and he dug into one of the zipper pockets, pulling out a small piece of folded paper.

"I can't imagine the shock you're in right now, but I can assure you it's true. I know your mother personally, and might I say how much you resemble her."

He had a faded English accent, and I could only assume he was born somewhere in the UK but was in the states a while before the Flu hit. His hair was a light brown and looked as if it should have been slicked back, but had long ago fallen out of place. The man wore black framed glasses and his build didn't suggest he was used to heavy lifting. The strange Brit handed the paper to me, and I tentatively reached out and took it, hanging onto Blue Eyes' arm tightly with my other hand.

I clenched the folded paper tightly between a curled in index finger and my thumb, staring down at it in terrorized wonder, like a bird gazing into a cobra's eyes. A sphere of ice formed in my stomach, and at the small grunt that sounded from Blue Eyes, I jumped slightly in his grasp, my eyes snapping up to meet his. The look he gave me showed me that he was worried and he cared, and that reassured me greatly, but I was still too afraid to unfold the paper. Thankfully, my prince seemed to understand what was warring in my mind, and he took the paper from me, still keeping me close to his side.

He used his fingers to one-handedly unfold the paper so it was creased into four lines when flat out. On the page was a printed picture from a security camera. It was dull colored but you could clearly see the two people caught on the tape. One was dressed in a white coat and scrubs and a mask while the person behind them walked with her head raised high, long dark hair frozen in mid-swing down her back. Her hands were bound by some sort of cuffs in front of her as she followed the medical-clad person down a white hallway. I didn't even need the very faded light streak in her hair to tell me who the woman was.

They were telling the truth.

My mother was alive.

I couldn't move my feet. I wanted to bolt but I couldn't move my feet. My eyes stung and the saltiness of the my shock paved a hot path down my cheeks. My head swam and I knew for a fact that if I had not been clinging to Blue Eyes' side, I would have wobbled with dizziness.

"Rain? You okay, sis?" Alexander spoke for the first time.

My brother had grown very much since the incident. Now a young adult, only a year older than me at twenty one, puberty hit him like a truck. He had finished growing, and soon after the treaty was finalized he began working in and for warehouses, like Dax had. He spent a lot of time in the sun, lifting crates and supplies. His build had filled out, his hair sun bleached and grown out. Now his hair was a light, deep dusty brown, and his hair had gotten wavy like our father's. He looked very much like Malcolm now.

I didn't answer him when he spoke to me. I was trembling and I had forgotten how to use my voice. I didn't know what to say to him anyway. Blue Eyes clutched me to him, knowing I needed help. He whispered to me that it was all okay, that we'd figure this out, he asked me if I wanted to leave and address this later after the shock went down. I shook my head, I wanted to leave but I knew I would never calm down until I heard the explanation for the ink on this page. I drew in a deep breath and tried to collect myself. Blue Eyes squeezed my hip bone, and I felt reassured to know that he'd be here to intervene if I needed him to.

"Where did you get this?" I whispered, my voice trembling as much as my bones were.

"I got this from the security feed of the institute your mother was taken to." The man answered softly, keeping his distance and his voice low. I was relieved by his empathy.

"Father, who are these people?" I asked, looking past the man back to the other two and the dog who was sitting obediently by the other man's feet.

"My name is Graham Casey. This is Liam Ethan and Leah Saunders." The man answered.

The second man, Liam, was tall with black hair and dark stubble along his jaw and cheeks. He was tall and looked like the kind of guy who had a high school quarterback history. The woman had dirty blond hair that could pass for brown, a thick lock of hair from each side of her face was pulled back tightly and pinned behind her head, the rest of her hair fell down to the middle of her back.

"You're not from the city, are you?" Blue Eyes asked, eyeing them suspiciously.

"No. We're not." The first man, Graham, answered.

"Do you remember the rumors about OSIRIS?" Malcolm asked.

I tilted my head. "It's a myth. To keep children from sneaking out."

The main story was that a girl disobeyed her parents and snuck out into the city after Gate curfew and went missing. They searched for days until they found her shoe and a dog tag necklace with the letters O.S.I.R.I.S stamped on. No one knew what happened to her, and the stories about that were all sorts of gruesome and terrifying theories. Sometimes people would 'go missing' and the word 'OSIRIS' was always involved. But I've never believed them. The whole thing was only a campfire story, nothing more and nothing less, right? Now I wasn't so sure. Now I was hit with an underground sense of terror as all the stories flooded my mind.

"I'm sorry to say that it's not a myth." Graham cut in.

I shook my head. "No." I said. "No."

If he was telling the truth, which I was forced to believe, the mention of the place after my mother could only imply that she was there.

"She can't be there. I'd rather she dead than in that place." I said, my head still shaking side to side. Caesar moved in close and placed a strong hand on my shoulder, seeing how distraught this news made me. My oddball eyes were wide and I knew my fright was apparent to everyone.

"I know how horrified you must be, but I can assure you that most of the stories are greatly exaggerated." Graham said again.

_Only most,_ I noticed.

"Why are you so sure of everything?" I asked, tightening my hold on Blue Eyes as I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at him.

Graham moved his glasses up his nose and raised his hands to try and keep me calm. "Because I used to work there. All of us did. Liam is a security guard, Leah here is an anthropologist with a background in primatology. I myself am a geneticist. We're here to help you get your mother back."

Silence. That was the only sound I could make. I couldn't trust these people. If everything they've said so far was true, why would I want to trust them? But if my mother was there...then another thought snapped to me.

"My mother's baby..." I trailed off.

Graham gave a smile. "She had a baby boy. He's two now. He's safe for now."

My lips parted in shock. They both lived...I had a little brother. The realization was new and foreign and filled me with both joy and dread. If he was alive then he was living in some dungeon. Then again, Graham did say that the stories were exaggerated, if only a little. But that didn't make me feel better. They weren't here and that was the problem. That is, if they were even alive at all. Malcolm and Alexander seemed to believe him though. I didn't know what to think, nor what to believe.

"I know this is a lot to take in," Malcolm said, shaking me from my thoughts. "But I'm going to get her, and I thought you should know."

"I'm going too." I said suddenly, surprising even myself.

"No." Malcolm, Alex, Blue Eyes and Graham said in unison.

"I am not some little house wife. I can do things, I'm going and that's that." I said, my mind made up before I could even think about it. Like hell was I going to miss out on this. My inner River wouldn't allow it.

"Miss Harley, I really think you should reconsider. The dangers-" I cut off Graham as he spoke.

"You don't know me. What you're saying is that you're going to infiltrate some sort of crazy institution to attempt to break out a woman and her small child. You need all the help you can get. Besides, is Ellie going? Do any of you know how to treat bad wounds?" I found my loophole as I spoke.

No one answered right away, but my brother soon broke the silence. "You know, she does have a point."

"Alex." Dad snapped.

"Well she does. She was studying under Lana, who, might I remind everyone, was the best doctor the colony has ever seen since its foundation, since she was a kid. And she works regularly with the Obas, she knows natural medicines and how to make them. And she's also right that you need all the help you can get. That's why I'm coming too." He finished.

"What? Now hold on..."

"I'm not a kid anymore, dad. Besides, I miss Lana. And I know you sure as hell do too. I'm not the same scrawny kid anymore, I can contribute." He said.

Malcolm let out an exasperated breath. "All of you. Every single one of my children are stubborn as bulls."

Alexander and I exchanged a smiling glance. "Being around Lana kinda does that to you."

Malcolm rolled his eyes, crossed his arms over his chest and held his mouth in a hand as he gazed at Alex, thinking over his son's decision. "You'll follow us if I say no. And I know that you'll do the same." He added, turning to look at me.

He sighed again, running a hand through his hair. "Fine. You know what? Fine. But you both will do as I say."

"If Rain is going, Blue Eyes is going too." I turned my head, surprised to hear Caesar's words.

Said sky eyed prince tightened his grip around me. I had forgotten about that crucial fact. I didn't want to go without Blue Eyes. It was more than likely to take days to get to this place, and the thought of sleeping by myself for the first time in seven hundred and thirty days, give or take six months, suddenly daunted me. Memories of the nightmares I used to have after the incident in the city came back to me for the first time in years, they had vanished completely once Blue Eyes and I started sharing my hammock. Suddenly I was very worried. If I slept alone, would the nocturnal terrors somehow know I was without my prince's protection?

Malcolm didn't even try to argue. He knew he would lose that fight, so he relented and allowed us to tag along. Our little meeting drew to a close with the details of the plan to leave exchanged. We were leaving tomorrow morning, and we would be heading north. What I didn't realize until Blue Eyes, Caesar and I got home was that we were heading in the direction of Washington. My old home.

The thought struck me, but I couldn't dwell on it. Not yet. I still had things to do. First of all, we needed to figure out what to do with the twins. They weren't coming, of course, but we needed to ask someone to look after them while we were gone. The first person to come to mind was Cornelia, but with her pregnancy I dismissed the thought. Though I soon found that to be futile, Caesar and Cornelia offered themselves. The king had explained what was going on to his wife, and while she worried and wished we wouldn't go, she knew we had to. So she was adamant that they be the ones to look after my offspring, and how could we refuse?

The next step was telling the children.

"But why? I don't want you to go." Sage whimpered as she clung to me.

"I know, love. But we have to. We won't be gone too long." Of course I didn't know if that was true or not, but I didn't want to give her anything to worry about.

"We'll be back before you know it." Blue Eyes added, cradling River in his arms.

"I wish you were back already." Our son mumbled into his father's fur.

"I miss you." Sage tightened her grip around my neck.

"Oh, sweetie. We haven't left yet. Save that for later. You'll be with Caesar and Cornelia, you love staying with them right?"

"Well, yes but..." River trailed off, looking up into his father's eyes.

"Different. You won't be here when we wake up." Sage explained sadly.

I sighed and looked to Blue Eyes. He returned my sad gaze and scooted closer to me, wrapping an arm around my waist to pull our family closer to each other. I leaned on his shoulder and stroked Sage's head.

"It won't be for too long. You'll see us again in no time." I tried to reassure them.

"Mother is right. Don't worry about us, just behave for your grandparents, and when we get back, we'll take some horses and spend a few days in the meadows, Just the four of us. I'll teach you how to ride. Sound good?" Blue Eyes intervened.

They didn't answer right away, but they exchanged a glance and looked back up at us, seeming to feel a little bit better.

"Come on, loves. No more frowning. Let's play a game, yeah?" I said, tired of seeing those confused countenances on my babies' faces.

With that, Blue Eyes and I played with our children together for the rest of the night, until dinner. We offered to let them go play with Emory and Xena and the rest of their friends, but they chose to stay with Blue Eyes and I instead. God the little angels were going to make me faint by just being themselves. I knew maternal love was strong but this still caught me off guard. No matter how old they got I knew that I would never tire of loving them with everything I had.

It was going to be hard leaving them, even if for only a few days. Blue Eyes and I exchanged a secret glance, and by the look in his eye and the way he squeezed my hand, I knew he felt exactly the same.


	4. Chapter 4

"Be good, okay?" I said as I smoothed out River's hair. "Do as Caesar and Cornelia say. Please try not to get into too much trouble. And watch out for your sister! I know she doesn't go looking for it but sometimes trouble tends to find her."

"We'll be fine, mom." River reached up and stopped my hand from grooming.

As I stared into my son's blue-green eyes, I could see he was trying to be strong, like his father. I bit my lip and sighed. "I know you will. I worry. Oh, I'm gonna miss you." I pulled my son in for a hug.

"I'll miss you too, mother." He said in a voice that made me unsure if he were my toddler son or the voice of a teenaged Blue Eyes. While River's voice hadn't deepened yet, it held the solemnity of his father. It made me miss him already all the more. Blue Eyes, who had been crouched beside me, switched sides with me so I could talk to Sage and he could bid farewell to our son. I could see the tears she was fighting back, they shone brightly in her dark blue eyes. Flecks of light, silvery blue lined her irises, making her eyes pop against the pinkness of her sclera.

"Hey, babe." I cooed softly, taking her up into my arms.

"Come back quick. Okay mama?" Her voice trembled.

"I will. I'll see you soon my sweet little dove. I don't need to tell you to behave, do I?" I stroked the side of her face.

Sage shook her head and I seen her lip tremble. I cooed and hummed comfortingly when a little tear dripped down her cheek. I had only just wiped the tear away with a thumb when she jumped at me, tightly wrapping her arms around my neck.

"I don't want you to go!" She sobbed.

I sighed and tried to hold back my own tears. She was making this very hard for me. I didn't want to leave her or River, but I knew I needed to go with my father. I hugged her tightly and rocked her softly and started humming Little Bird to her. I had turned the song that had gotten me my nickname into a lullaby for my twins, and very soon I felt her body stop trembling with sobs at the sound of the familiar tune. I cradled her head as she sniffed, and she quickly started humming along.

"There, there. It's all alright. I'll be back, and when I do daddy and I will teach you and your brother how to ride. Just like we promised, okay?" I whispered to her.

Sage nodded, her cute little lip pouting. I hooked a finger softly under her chin and lifted her face up. I gave her a reassuring smile and picked her up, placing her in Cornelia's waiting arms. Blue Eyes did the same, allowing the boy to climb onto his grandfather's shoulders. The king and queen had come to say goodbye, as well as Ash and his wife, Maurice and Koba, and Haze and Harley. We stood by the old fire truck road, a big Ford SUV backed up to the tree line. Dad, Alex, the three humans and their dog waited by the vehicle.

"Thank you so much for watching them like this, on such short notice." I thanked my in-laws again.

_"Of course. You know we love them. Besides,"_ Cornelia added. _"I need to get back in practice."_

I smiled softly. "If everything goes well enough, we'll be back before its time for your delivery."

"We'll wait for you. But we'll play lots, of games while you're away. Won't we?" She said, looking down at her granddaughter's unique eyes.

She gave a soft smile and nodded. I could tell Sage was too saddened about our departure to show it, but I could see she was happy to be able to spend quality time with her grandparents. They both loved sleeping over in the Home Tree pent house with Cornelia and Caesar and Haze.

I moved on to the next person, Caesar. He smiled and stroked my cheekbone with a thumb. "Keep him in line for me." He said, referring to Blue Eyes.

"I can do it in my sleep." I smirked.

"Good luck, my daughter. Get back quickly. It won't be the same without seeing, both of you and the twins playing every morning." He finished with a sad grin.

I gave a soft giggle. "Well, now you have to do that for us. Just until we get back. Okay?"

He nodded. "I'll do my best." In that moment, I seen in his bright green eyes that he was still young. Weathered, yes, but inside I could see he was still young. I had already known this completely well, but I was washed anew with the knowledge that my babies had the best grandparents I could ever have hoped for them to have. And they were about to get one more, I thought with a secret smile.

I moved on to Haze and Harley, who stood beside the ape king. Both wore similar expressions, and I heaved a sigh and gave them a smile. "Are either of you gonna hug me or..?"

They shot out and nearly stumbled over themselves as they wrapped their arms around my ribs. Both had grown very much, and now stood up to my waist. I hugged them back, returning their tight embrace. When they pulled back, I crouched down to their eye level and waited for them to say something.

"Be careful, okay?" Haze asked.

"I will be." I promised.

"Um, Rain?" Harley piped up, seeming a little nervous about something.

"What is it?" I asked.

"When you get back, um, will you uh...teach me how to swim?" He shuffled his feet.

I raised my brows in surprise. "I thought you didn't like the water."

_"Well, that's the thing. I don't know if I don't anymore. I...I want to learn."_ He signed, messing with his hands afterward.

I blinked, still taken aback by the request. The memory of his small body floating helplessly in the current all those years ago came back to me. Then there was also the possibility that he was physiologically unable to swim. I worried, but I found myself respecting Harley, given what happened to him I wouldn't be surprised if he was still traumatized, he must have put a lot of thought into this decision.

_"I don't want to be afraid of the water anymore. Please Rain?"_ He signed.

I sighed, nodding lightly. "Okay. If your parents agree then okay, I'd be happy to. But it'll have to wait a few days after I get back, I've also promised to do something special with the twins."

Harley smiled, his fangs poking out slightly. "That's okay. Thanks Rain."

"Will you two do something in return for me?"  
I asked.

They both nodded.

"Great. Haze, will you watch out for the twins for me? Make sure they don't worry too much?" I said. "And Harley, I want you try to cheer up Pericles for me, okay? He's been seeming sad for the past few days, I would do it myself, but as you can see, things came up."

They exchanged a glance. _"You can count on us."_ They signed.

"Thanks. I'll see you in a few days."

"Bye, Rain." They hugged me again, and I stood up.

I moved on to Maurice and Koba, exchanging good wishes and farewells. I knew not much needed to be said, we wouldn't be gone all that long. So I got a hug goodbye from both of them, and turned to the last people I had to bid farewell to. Ash and Dana.

"Tell Zinny I said bye for me, okay?" I asked, referring to young Xena's nickname.

"Of course." Dana nodded, pulling me in for a hug. Her and I had grown close during my pregnancy with the twins, she had been one of my midwives. When her time had come to deliver Xena, I had returned the favor and had been the best midwife I could be for her.

"Take care of yourself." Ash's accented voice advised. "I expect every detail when you get back. I won't tolerate anything less."

I gave him a smile. "Don't expect anything less."

Ash pulled me to his chest, giving me a strong but short hug. "Be safe, sister."

"I will. One more thing, can you tell Lisa I'm sorry in advance for anything Zira pulls?"

They both laughed. "Okay."

I took a deep breath. "Well, I guess it's time to go now."

"Come back safe." Dana said, both of them hugging me.

I nodded and moved back down to the twins while Blue Eyes took my place in speaking with our friends. I looked into both of their unique eyes.

"I love you both. Everything will be back to normal soon, alright?"

"I love you too." Both said, not even glancing at each other.

I fought not to cry. The looks on their faces made me feel like I would never see them again. God, I hoped they didn't think that. "We'll see you soon."

Blue Eyes joined my side and reached out, ruffled up River's hair. I clicked my tongue lightly. "I just fixed that."

But I left it alone, and reached out instead to wipe away a smudge on his face. There was no smudge, but I just needed some sort of normalcy in this goodbye. So, just so I could see River squirm, I licked my thumb and wiped away at a fake smudge on his face. He whined and shook his head, pouting at me through a glare. I giggled at that little expression, fighting the strong urge to cover his face in kisses.

Blue Eyes leaned forward to give a kiss to Sage's forehead, but before he could pull back too much, she darted her head forward and kissed his cheek. He paused and sighed, holding his daughter's cheek for a moment as he gazed into her golden irises. "Keep your brother in line." He murmured.

"Bye Father." She replied, not giving an answer to his request.

"See you soon, ladybird."

With that, I gave a hug and a kiss to each of my children, and we pulled ourselves away and moved to where the humans were waiting. Malcolm and Alex had already said their goodbyes, but they still waved farewell as we packed into the huge vehicle.

I paused when I got in after Blue Eyes, sitting in the second row. It had been two years since I got into a car, and I realized how strange the leather seats felt on my legs. But I didn't get to dwell on it long, because the dog, a good sized German Shepard, hopped onto the seat beside me, sitting with her tongue lolling out the side of her mouth.

"What's with the dog?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah." Liam called from the row in front of us. "That's Astrid. She's my partner. She's a real sweetie but trust me, her bite is worse than her bark. You got nothing to worry about though," he added when he seen the look on my face. "She won't make an aggressive move unless I say so. You're fine."

As if to prove a point, the dog leaned forward and started licking my face. I reached up and pushed her away, but I pet her to make an appeasement.

The woman, Leah, turned around to face me in her seat. She sat between Liam and my brother in the row in front of Blue Eyes.

"Hi, I'm Leah." She reached out a hand.

I shook it. "I'm Rain."

She smiled warmly, and extended a greeting hand to my husband. He had greeted humans this way plenty of times before, so there was none of the initial caution he used to have. He shook her hand and nodded. "Blue Eyes."

Graham, who was in the driver's seat beside Malcolm, started up the truck. "Alright, chaps, better get comfy now, cuz we've got fifteen hours to go."

"Fifteen-?!" I gasped quietly. Blue Eyes and I exchanged a glance, and I slumped in my seat with a groan. This is going to be a long trip.


	5. Chapter 5

_"On the road again_  
 _Goin' places that I've never been -actually I have been there_  
 _Seein things I may never see again- hopefully not_  
 _And I can't wait to get on the road again_  
 _On the road a-"_  
   
"Shut up, for the love of everything good left in this world!" Leah interrupted Liam's horribly off-tune commentary singing. "I hate that song."   
  
"Fine! God damn, a simple shush would have sufficed." The man mumbled. The entire car sighed in relief.   
  
But not thirty seconds later-   
  
_"She's into superstitions_  
 _Black cats and voodoo dolls_  
 _I've got a premonition-"_  
    
"Liam Allan Ethan I swear to god I'm gonna throw you right out of this truck." Leah growled.   
  
"Alright! Alright, I'm done." He replied, but I could hear an underlying snicker to his words. The man just didn't know when to quite, because the next minute he was humming The Sound of Music.   
  
We had been driving for maybe four or five hours down a cracked and deserted highway 97 and Liam hadn't stopped with the tunes since we left the security of the Taiga trees. Even Astrid the dog had had enough of her owner's singing, and was currently sitting on the floor by my feet with her paws over her muzzle. Blue Eyes had finally seemed to have had enough, for he grabbed me, lifted me up, scooted over and placed me in the spot he had been sitting in before moving on to intercept his target. He leaned over the seats and slapped a hand over Liam's mouth and glared at him through an icy gaze.   
  
"Shut. Up." I could hear the growl he was holding back. The man was stiff as a board as he nodded, and I could only imagine that he could feel the strength in the ape's grip.   
  
"Thank you." Blue Eyes grunted, deepening his voice just to intimidate the other male before leaning back and throwing an arm around my shoulders. I smirked at his little show and cuddled into his side, trying to tuck in for a nap.   
  
Blue Eyes adjusted to sit more comfortably, and I snuggled into his chest. He laid his head down over mine and slowly we let the sound of rainfall pattering on the windows lull us to sleep.   
  
\----two hours later----   
  
"Guys."   
  
"Guys, wake up."   
  
I forced my tired eyes open to the sound of my brother's voice. "What?" I groaned.   
  
"You guys have to wake up. We're taking a pit stop. Stretch your legs." Alexander said, and I noticed the car was empty save for us three.   
  
I glanced up to see Blue Eyes still napping, his head leaned back and to the left so my head had been tucked under his chin. I nodded at my brother and flicked my eyes toward the open door of the SUV, gesturing him out. When he was gone, I looked up at my sleeping simian. He showed no signs of waking anytime soon, so I opted for pushing him upright and straddling his waist.   
  
"Blue." I shook his shoulders. Nothing.   
  
I leaned forward and felt grateful that the windows were tinted. I laid a kiss on his chin and said his name again. When this didn't work, I kissed his nose and then pecked his lips. "Blue, wake up."   
  
He breathed in deeply and I knew he was starting to wake up. I snuggled a little closer and started kneading my fingers into his shoulders. "Blue Eyes."   
  
With a sigh he opened his eyes and hummed inquisitively.   
  
"We're stopping for a little bit. Let's get out." I said softly.   
  
He glanced behind me as his hands took up their position on my hips. He didn't answer me as he leaned up and caught my mouth with his. My eyes fell closed as I returned the kiss, hands relocating to lay on his neck. My thumbs were lightly brushing his jawline when he suddenly flipped us, laying me down on the seat and moving on top of me. I giggled through the kiss at the sudden movement before I let myself fall back into the embrace. Sadly, I couldn't let it last long when I felt him getting a little too touchy for innocence.   
  
"We can't." I whispered.   
  
"Well if we're quiet..."

  
"There is no quiet with you."   
  
"Touché" he snickered.   
  
"Are you gonna let me up?" I asked, fighting the smirk threatening to raise the corners of my mouth.   
  
"Unfortunately." He sighed. He sat up, and I scooted my hips out from under him, sitting up and giving him a peck on the mouth in compensation.   
  
With that, we pulled ourselves out of the truck and onto the overgrown highway. Leah and Alexander were crouched by a growing pile of sticks and tinder talking, and a yard or so ahead Liam was playing with Astrid. On the other side of the road, by the crumbling concrete dividers, was Malcolm and Graham, caught up in a seemingly important conversation. I sighed and lifted my hands over my head, stretching my spine as far as it would go without popping some discs free. I let out a little grunt and sigh of relief at the loosened feel.   
  
We moved to sit with Alexander and Leah. The girl had gotten a good cook fire going and my brother was preparing a Tupperware box full of soup into a pot. When he finished, he started cutting up some bread. He set the pot over a makeshift spit on the fire.   
  
"Hope you guys don't mind chicken soup. Ellie made it. It's pretty good." Alex said.   
  
We didn't have much say anyway, unless we wanted to forage for wild foods, and neither Blue Eyes nor I wanted to be picky. Besides, I didn't mind chicken soup. Soon Malcolm and Graham joined us, bringing large pieces of concrete from the dividers for us to sit up. And when I say Malcolm and Graham, I mean Malcolm carried the blocks while Graham picked them out. The smell of the hot soup lured Liam and Astrid back in from their games, and the dog quickly took up position begging for scraps.   
  
Liam put an end to that quickly, pulling out some good pieces of dried meat for the canine. She dug in happily, ripping into pieces of mystery jerky.   
  
Leah handed out bowls of chicken soup to everyone, and she got Graham to pass spoons around. I had expected to have to coax Blue Eyes into trying some of the soup, but when I took a glance at him, I seen him trying to hide his enthusiasm in spooning mouthfuls past his lips. The sight filled me with fondness for him, and I watched him through the corner of my eye with an amused grin. The pale eyed prince soon felt my gaze and paused, slowly pulling the spoon from his mouth.   
  
_"Good?"_ I asked with a widened smile.   
  
_"Different, but good."_ He replied, placing the spoon back in his bowl to sign with a singular hand. _"What's the sign for this?"_   
  
I demonstrated it and he replicated it. A breeze blew through the dying evening light causing goosebumps to pucker my flesh. I shivered and scooted closer to Blue Eyes. He seen my reaction to the cold and drew me under his arm. I leaned into his warmth and sighed, putting my finished bowl down by my feet. I closed my eyes and basked in the warmth my husband's stocky body provided as he continued to eat a second helping of the chicken soup. But the quiet crackle of the fire was only the lone sound of the cracking highway for a few more minutes. Graham soon decided to clear his throat and start talking.

"I'm sure you want to know a bit more of what you are getting into." His accented voice said.   
  
I opened my eyes and looked at the man as he waited for our full attention.   
  
"You know it as OSIRIS, it's full name is Oxford's Institute for Research and Inquiry Studies. The name is mostly self explanatory, we use...unorthodox methods to solve unorthodox questions and problems."   
  
"Oxford," I interrupted. "Shouldn't this place be somewhere in Britain?"   
  
The man pushed his glasses up his nose. "Headquarters was located in Hertfordshire, England, just a little outside of London, there was once facilities all over the world. The Flu killed off too many scientists and staff in most all the out-of-country facilities."   
  
"But not at this one?" Alex asked, catching the same thing I had.   
  
Graham nodded and bobbed a finger in his direction. "That's a good question. You see, my father is a bit of a perfectionist. The majority of our staff survived the Flu, and the apocalypse wasn't a good enough excuse for him to cease research-"   
  
"Your father." Blue Eyes repeated, not asking a question, just mimicking the Englishman's words. I didn't even need to look at his face to know that he was glaring slightly.   
  
Graham paused. "That's right.." He muttered to himself, seeming to remember that there was something we didn't know. I felt myself becoming a bit more weary of the three still-strange humans "My grandfather is the founder of OSIRIS, when he died, my father took over."   
  
"Then why are you doing this?" I narrowed my eyes at him. Mistrust bloomed in my mind, and when I felt Blue Eyes' body stiffen slightly I knew his guard was up as well. "Why are you willing to defy this man to get my mother out?"   
  
Graham looked at me. "Because it's not right. What they're doing. It's wrong. When my grandfather ran OSIRIS, we took in volunteers, we didn't spirit people away from their lives without any warning or notice. But my father felt we didn't have enough subjects, and not enough people were willing to serve. So he began the kidnapping. Like I said," he added. "I know your mother personally, and she's a wonderful woman, she doesn't deserve to be away from her home, and neither do anyone else."   
  
I tensed at the mention of my mother.   
  
"Wait," Alex called us to attention. "All world governments as far as we know are dead and long gone. Whatever you do there can't be done for free. How have you been able to stay up all this time?"   
  
"We're run by Polytechnic Solutions. Some bigwig corporate CEO lived through the Flu but none of his family or friends did. So the lonely bastard decided to pour all his money into the last remaining facility. We can get enough dough to fund a trip to the moon if we wanted to." Liam stepped in.   
  
We all looked at him, surprised by such a detailed answer from the seemingly dull tool in the shed.   
  
"What?" He asked, acting appalled by our surprise. "I know exactly who writes my paychecks."   
  
I knew that must have been a joke. There had been no where to cash a check for over a decade.   
  
"You said they use unorthodox methods. What did you mean by that?" I asked.   
  
"Well," he sighed, seeming uncomfortable. "My grandfather saw that the human race was already bound for destruction. No one expected it to come so soon, but the Flu blindsided us. Back to your direct question, have you ever heard of Post-Humans?"   
  
I shook my head, a confused frown on my face.   
  
"Originally, the whole concept is science fiction, but what it is an idea that literally means a person or entity that exists in a state beyond being human. OSIRIS took the next step. They are working on creating a whole new subspecies of human. In many ways they have already succeeded-"   
  
"Wait," I interrupted again. "What do you mean subspecies? Like as in a Bengal tiger?"   
  
"Yes, precisely like that. OSIRIS's purpose for this is to create a _better_ race of humans. My grandfather seen the corruption in the world, and he seen that we were all slowly killing ourselves and our home, so he decided that when the human race died, a new breed would take over the earth and repair it."   
  
I shook my head disapprovingly, eyes downcast. "You're playing with something that's not meant to be messed with. Whether humans die or live is fate's choice. If we die, then it's time to give the world to someone else and hope they do a better job with it then we ever did, not try to grapple with some false sense of pseudo-immortality."   
  
Graham seemed caught off-guard by my opinion, but he didn't protest.   
  
"Yes, well, you're right. It is wrong, and I know that well. I'm sorry to say that it's taken this long for my eyes to open." He replied softly.   
  
"What exactly goes on in this place?" Alex asked, his tone well guarded. I could only see maybe half of his face, but I could easily see his steely gaze fixated on the bespectacled Englishman. I noticed them that Graham still hasn't answered my actual question. Whatever methods they used in this place, I knew for a fact that they weren't pleasant.   
  
"You don't want to know." Graham sighed, confirming my thoughts.   
  
"You expect us to go in blind?" I snapped softly, my body stiff with apprehension and mistrust and worry and fear for the unknown future. I wanted to know exactly what was being done to my mother. Had they hurt her? My heightened maternal instinct filled me with rage at the notion that my unknown little sibling was living in harm's way. Was all the child knew white walls and antiseptic scent?   
  
"I think you should tell them." Liam said, interrupting Graham when he went to avoid my question again. "I know how ashamed you are, we all are, but this is their mother. I would want to know if it were mine."   
  
I was surprised by this. The man had been nothing but borderline obnoxiously sarcastic his whole time, but now he looked at his comrade with apprehensive encouragement set into his expression. Something about that made me think that he and Dax would have been very close had they of had the opportunity to make each other's acquaintances.   
  
The Brit sighed. "Look, some procedures are completely painless and subjects breeze through it, but others can vary between cringe-worthy and unspeakable."   
  
"Why do you keep saying this?" Blue Eyes spoke up, glaring with his mistrust. "You keep saying 'subject'." A part of me wanted to smooth out those creases from the prince's face, but I knew now was not the time and I myself was curious about the answer to his question.   
  
The older man licked his lips. "It's habit."   
  
"Not all subjects are human." Leah piped up quietly, offering a slightly deeper explanation as to why Graham kept using this word.   
  
"What else do you work on?" Alexander asked.   
  
She looked down. "All kinds of species. Project Post Human is only one of the many research projects that take place at the institute. Birds of prey, mammals of many sorts, reptiles, a few species of amphibian, you name it, OSIRIS has most likely run some test or other on it."   
  
"You said you're an anthropologist. What is it you do?" I asked the other woman.   
  
"Anthropology is the study of human evolution and zoology-"   
  
"I know you're profession. I meant what do you do at this facility?" I interrupted, realizing I hadn't conveyed my question properly.   
  
Her lips formed an 'O' shape for a moment when she realized what I had meant. But she didn't seem as willing to answer the question as she was when she thought I had been asking her to define her field of study. "There are many...human hybrids at the institute. I tend to work closely with Dr. Casey here," she gestured to Graham. "I help predict and judge what certain gene splices will do. Physical and behavioral traits, what to look out for. Things like that."   
  
My eyes were pulled to Astrid, who lay on her belly between Liam and Blue Eyes' feet. "What about her? You said she was your partner."   
  
Liam nodded. "I'm a security guard. Elites have K-9 counterparts that we're assigned."   
  
"And was she...?"   
  
"Experimented on? Sadly, yes. She's altered to withstand prolonged periods of hard activity. Which means heart surgery. My Astrid can lope any wolf into the dust. Her brain was also tampered with, to make her more susceptible to follow commands. Luckily the brain surgery didn't mess with her attitude. She's always been the sweetest thing. When we're not working, all she wants to do is love everyone."   
  
The dark haired man gave his dog a good run around her ruff, and she responded by happily sitting up and licking his face. He took a moment to praise her and scratch at her ears.   
  
I bit the inside of my lip, not sure how I felt about all this. I was very glad that the dog had survived with no obvious repercussions to her psyche. The animal looked happy and content. A glance up showed that light was fading quickly from the skies, and by the look of it, we weren't going anywhere anytime soon.   
  
Deciding I was done with the mouthful of information I had received, I released my bottom lip from my teeth's wrath and quieted myself. My husband, attuned to my subtle psychological body language, could see that I was done with socialization for the night, and was able to make an excuse for us to leave the cookfire. Malcolm told him where on the SUV the tents could be found, and the two of us made off to unstrap them from the roof of the vehicle, where other supplies were also stored.   
  
We found a spot that was mostly smooth with minimum cracks in the concrete and started unwrapping the canvas and poles. My mood was lightened by our shared attempt at figuring out how to pitch the tent. It had been a while since I had done it and needed the directions to put it up properly. But both of us were struggling to read the small writing in the dying sunlight, and we laughed and chuckled as we each took turns reading and directing the other through the process. But we finally got it up correctly, and, chuckling lightly, we managed to get our two-person sleeping bag and lantern (provided by my brother) into the tent.   
  
Normally, on summer nights such as this, I would sleep either nude or without a shirt, but I didn't want to risk being seen by someone in case a wake up call showed up in the morning. So I pulled on a pair of comfy shorts and a tank top, both gifts from Aunt Ellie, and tucked myself into Blue Eyes' side. The lantern clicked off and we laid there in each other's arms, trying to acclimate to the different sleeping environment.   
  
"What do you think the twins are doing right now?" I asked, the silence allowing my thoughts to fall back to my children. It felt odd not to kiss them goodnight. Both of them sometimes still slept with Blue Eyes and I, but since they had started becoming a little more independent, two smaller hammocks hung in the corner opposite to the one I shared with my husband. There was a small curtain hanging by their beds, and for extra privacy, a canopy curtain made of Spanish moss had been added to hang above my hammock.   
  
"Maybe hearing a story..." Blue Eyes replied, his voice quiet.   
  
"I hope it's a good one. I hope they're not sad." I mumbled.

"Haze won't let them stay sad." He murmured.   
  
A smile tugged at my lips at the thought of the upbeat chimp. "Gotta love Haze."   
  
"He had such a crush on you." I heard him mutter.   
  
"What?" I gasped softly, a surprised smile forming on my face.   
  
"When he was very little. Soon as he met you, he was smitten." The scarred ape grinned.   
  
"Oh, how cute!" I gushed. "Dwah, now I wanna hug him."   
  
Blue Eyes laughed lightly, air puffing out through his nose as his chest jumped lightly. He pulled me closer to him and I leaned up and kissed his cheek. Silence overtook up again, but I spoke up once again soon after.   
  
"I think you'll like her." I murmured. "My mother."   
  
"Malcolm always talks about how alike, you both are. I'm sure I will." He answered, rubbing my shoulder with his fingers.   
  
"I've never understood why they keep saying that. I've never seen the resemblance the way everyone else seemed to." I replied.   
  
Blue Eyes heaved a big, slow sigh. "Rainbird, you're too modest for your own good."   
  
I smiled and snuggled into his nape, feeling the stress of today melting away in the wake of our conversation. It was these moments when I knew without a doubt I had made the right choice in letting myself love him. He always knew how to calm the torrents in my mind without even consciously trying. I allowed my mind to blank out and fade into slumber as our tent got darker and darker.


	6. Chapter 6

We packed back into the SUV soon after a breakfast of rice and a few slices of cut up wild potato Blue Eyes found after we woke up. According to Graham, we still had around 7 or 8 more hours to go, so we'd either be nearing our destination by this evening or tomorrow morning, depending on any obstacles we hit. I was surprised that not even two hours after setting off again, we passed a dented and dirty road sign that could just barely be read, _"Welcome to Historic Chinook."_

My jaw dropped.

"I know this place..." I breathed, my body stiff as I leaned down to look through the windows of the big vehicle. Blue Eyes gave me a concerned look.

"Rain? What's wrong?" Blue Eyes asked, sitting up and placing protective hands on my back.

His worry drew the attention of the rest of the car. "What's the matter?" Malcolm called from his shotgun seat.

"Let me out."

"What?"

"Let me out of the car." I said, louder as buildings passed by, memories flashing in my mind. My heart pounded in my chest and my mouth ran dry.

Graham reluctantly pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road, and I jumped out of the SUV and onto the weed-chocked sidewalk. I heard the click of doors as they followed me out, and I felt Astrid lick my fingers. I absentmindedly gave her a pat on the head while I looked around. Wherever I looked, I saw broken shop signs and scorch marks and tire tracks streaking the roads and even on the sidewalks. My breathing became heavier as pictures and sounds and smells and voices flickered in my head.

This was my old home.

My family and I lived in a small Indian reserve just outside this town.

* * *

"C'mon Rain, race you there!" _A voice instigated the game in the Cherokee language._

_My little feet pattered on the concrete as I ran to catch up with my older cousin. He was much older than me, maybe twelve years old to my four or five. A seven year old Dax ran beside me, overtaking me and John easily, though I was sure the older boy was pacing himself so my brother and I could win the race to the bake shop we were going to._

_Dax won, myself pulling in second. I jumped around happily, waiting for someone to open the door to the bakery while my big brother boasted lightheartedly over his win. John, our cousin, reached us a moment later, congratulating us on our win the way anyone would praise small children. He opened the door for us and Dax took my hand, leading me inside excitedly._

"Big brother! Let's get that one! Can we get that one Johnny?" _I asked, tapping the display glass over a big, two-tier chocolate cake, drizzled with strawberry syrup and dotted with strawberries mounted in little swirly dollops of whipped cream._

"Doesn't that look a little too big?" _My cousin grinned. He had been the rare kind of preteen boy who actually truly enjoyed hanging out with his younger family members. But I hadn't known that back then. To me it was a normality._

"No, looks small." _Dax agreed with me._

"Father, we want this one." _John said when the bell above the shop door rang. A man with a medium length braid hanging down his back entered and approached._

_"Can we get it?" Little me said in English as I bounced on the balls of my feet._

_"Ooh. Good choice." He praised, standing behind us and rubbing his son's skull._

_The bell rang again and a tall-ish woman walked in._

_"Mom! Can we get this one?" John and his father called together, speaking in English now._

_"Isn't that a little small?" She grinned._

_"Yeah!" I agreed hastily._

_"Aww look at this face!" The woman crouched down and started showering my face with kisses, making excited kissy noises just to make me laugh. It worked swimmingly._

_I shrieked happily, and the noise drew the attention of a store clerk from somewhere beyond the counter. "Hi, what can I do for you?" The lady asked politely._

_"Hi, do you have any more of these in the back?" The woman, my aunt, asked, gesturing to the desired dessert._

_"Yeah, we should have a few in the freezers." She replied._

_"We'll take three."_

_The boys and I cheered excitedly. I took that moment to return my aunt's kisses as she scooped me up into her arms._

_The bakery lady retrieved and boxed our cakes before checking us out at the register. The man, my uncle Jay, carried the stacked boxes out of the shop very carefully, seeing as the three cakes towered over his head by at least a head and a half. My aunt, Carine, used her motherly skills to keep her son and nephew and niece from swarming Jay's legs as he made his way to the truck._

_I remembered climbing into the back of the four door pickup truck's trunk by clambering up the tire and heaving my small body up until I fell over the edge. I laughed as I hit the bottom and rolled to my knees before standing up and jumping in place as I waited for my slower family members._

"Hurry, hurry, too slow!" _I called in Cherokee._

"Slow down, too fast!" _Aunt Carine called back humorously._

_After moving the cakes into the back and fastening a seat belt around the boxes for good measure, uncle Jay lifted me up and into the cabin of the truck. My smaller than average size made it possible for me to sit between Dax and John, but my brother and I had to share a seatbelt for safety._

_I remembered watching the trees fly by as my aunt drove the truck into the forest outside of town, toward the reserve I called home. I remembered that when we got back, my mother and Aunt Mina had been joyously surprised to find our completely random run to the bakery had brought back three decently decadent cakes._

_"What's the occasion?"_

_"Did I forget a birthday?" They had laughed._

* * *

"Rain? Are you alright?" I jumped at the sound of Alex's voice.

"Alexander..." I murmured absentmindedly as I looked around, softly surprised to find myself inside the bakery. The windows and more were broken, and mold stains streaked the inside of the culinary display case, most likely from smeared icings and such. Dried blood splattered the pieces glass of the case that still hung to its frame, blackened by time.

Shelves that once held little wrapped candies and little decorative knick knacks were bashed to the ground, pieces of plastic and porcelain littered the ground like crumbs. On the side of the counter, more blood was splattered, and I knew it was from those poor souls infected by the Flu. I wondered if I once knew who the blood belonged to. I bit the inside of my lip at the thought that it might have been one of my uncles or family members or friends. Chills raked through my body when I spotted a certain stain on the counter wall, not two feet from the floor in the dim light.

A black, bloody handprint was stamped into the plaster, no bigger then a seven year olds'.

Sickened, I stumbled back, my hands cupping my mouth in horror. Warm hands took ahold of my arms and I leaned into the familiar stocky build of Blue Eyes. I forced myself to look away, taking shelter in my husband's nape as I tried to control my emotions. Seeing that print, not so much bigger than my own children's hands sent awful thoughts and feelings to plague my mental state. I breathed in, and forced away the image of Sage and River coughing and sneezing blood. Blue Eyes had known me well enough to wrap me up in his arms as sanctuary while I wrangled away the inconceivable thoughts. Our children were fine and healthy, and they were waiting for us to come home.

The thought pushed me to finish my sight seeing so we could continue on our way. But I couldn't help it. I never thought I'd ever walk on these streets again, these cracked streets in this abused, derelict town. Memories from some of the best parts of my childhood were saturated in the concrete and in the canopies of the forest that ran through the state.

"Rain? I know this must be really tough on you, whatever this is, but we're all kind of wondering why we stopped." Alexander murmured gently.

"Give her a minute." Blue Eyes replied before I could, and I could hear the warning glare in his voice.

I shook my head. "No, he's right," I drew in a deep breath in a futile attempt to calm myself. "I shouldn't be doing this."

I was about to pull myself away from him to take my leave from the once brightly atmosphered building when Blue Eyes caught my gaze.

_"Tell me how to make you feel better."_ He signed one handedly.

I bit my lip. _"Be Blue Eyes."_

The tall ape raised a hand and held my cheek warmly, caressing comforting warmth into my cheekbone with his thumb. "Let's go back outside." He whispered.

I nodded and let him lead me out. I looked up at the cloud clotted sky, and breathed in the air. It didn't smell the way I remembered, but that was okay, it was less smoggy, not that it had been overtly polluted the last time I was here. But I could smell the forest on the breeze, and I looked in the direction I knew led to my old home.

"I used to live down that way." I murmured, not speaking to anyone in particular.

I felt Blue Eyes' calloused hand rub my shoulder comfortingly. I leaned into him, so glad for his support.

"Rae? What is this place?" Alex asked, coming close to my side.

"The reservation I used to live on is just outside this town." I murmured, a sullen air descending upon me.

"This is..." He trailed off, looking around. "Oh."

"What?" Leah asked, walking up. She sent a confused glance my way, and I felt myself holding back an annoyed sigh. I didn't want pity. Alex looked at me for an okay, and I gave him a nod. There was no reason to withhold this no doubt minor detail from them.

"This is Rain's hometown." He told the other woman.

Her head snapped in my direction, brows raised in surprise. "Really?"

I nodded in affirmation.

"This must be hard for you. Seeing it like this. Was your house nearby?" She asked, giving me a sympathetic look.

"Sort of. There used to be an Indian reserve a few miles into the forest. I was there."

"On a reserve? Are you..?" The taller woman trailed off, studying my features.

"I'm a half blood." I turned my face away, not because I was ashamed, but because I felt uncomfortable under her physical scrutiny.

"I assumed you were Latina." She said. "But now...the distinctive curve shape of your eyes, the dark hair..." Her scientific mind must have been starting to take over.

"What's your indigenous half? If you don't mind me asking."

"Cherokee tribe." I answered.

"Wow, you're a long way of home, aren't you?"

I raised a brow. "Yeah. Like, ten hours away. You were there, remember?"

She tried to cover up a giggle. "No, I meant, the only Cherokee reserve I know of is over in Oklahoma."

I shook my head. "My old place wasn't technically any specific type of native. Just had to be native. Or, if not, you had to get permission from the tribe elders to live there.." I trailed off when I caught myself beginning to ramble. That was when I noticed that she had said the only _Cherokee_ reserve she knew of. What other reserves did she know of, if any?

"That's really cool-" Leah was cut off when Graham walked up.

"Mr. Maddock explained the sentimental significance this place has for the both of you, Ms. Harley, but we really must get going." He said.

For a moment, I almost didn't even realize who he was talking about, but then my father's last name struck a bell and I knew he was talking about Malcolm. I gave a small nod and withheld a sigh. I took one more look over my shoulder, and bid adieu to the first Chinook building I had stepped into for over twelve years. A good large portion of me wanted to go to the reserve, to really see my place of origin, but I knew it wasn't rational to even think about asking. So I held my tongue and allowed myself to be tugged along back into the SUV.

Before I knew it, I was watching what used to be saplings towering alongside the road flash by, and I felt a tug at my heart when I tried to picture what might have been. What future might have been there for me in those branches? But it was a half hearted inquiry. Even if I knew what could have been, I wouldn't want it. I wouldn't give up my world for anything. But it still hurt to see the place I had cherished in some of my fondest memories in such derelict despair. But at least the forest around the town still thrived, for that I was grateful.

I leaned against Blue Eyes' chest and he wrapped an arm around me to further reassure me of his presence, and together we watched my old realm flash by. Astrid laid down over the rest of the remaining available seating and laid her head in my lap. She gave my hand a few licks and I lifted aforementioned hand to stroke her soft head. She gave a sympathetic whine and nuzzled into me, and I gave her big brown doe eyes a glance before resuming my dutiful caresses. If she was picking up on my conflicted distress, I was grateful for her reaction. I needed all the support I could get for the upcoming stress I was no doubt about to endure.


	7. Chapter 7

Hours ticked by, but I didn't even try to keep track of them. After we had driven maybe twenty more miles, I stopped watching the trees and focused on the warmth in Blue Eyes' hand as he stroked and played with my hair. Everyone else in the car chatted quietly amongst themselves, but they had the courtesy to leave me be.

I tried to perk up, for Blue Eyes' sake, and for my father's and brother's, but I found it hard to do. But it seemed the handsome male I married knew just what I needed, and he started humming softly. I sighed and shifted to press my face against his scars as his chest vibrated slightly, and his hand sought out mine. I grasped his larger fingers and squeezed softly as I let his voice soothe my sloshing thoughts. Soon, I started humming along and tapping my smaller digits over his to the rhythm and felt all my previous sadness melt away in the wake of his content sounding voice. I relaxed into my beloved chimp even further as the song ended and I gave a sigh in one final attempt to flush the negative energy from my body.

"I bet they miss that." I murmured softly, referring to our two children. "I would."

Blue Eyes have a quiet grunt of inquiry.

"Your humming." I replied.

"Mine's not, the only humming they'll miss." He returned, giving my hair a kiss.

I fought the urge to tell him he was only saying that to make me feel better, but I wasn't in the mood to butt heads with him about it. Not right now, anyway. Blue Eyes kept me in a well enough mental state with nothing but conversation for who knows how long. Of course, I was perfectly okay with this. It still amazed me that after two, almost three years of conducting long, enjoyable conversations with him we still had so much to talk about. Our conversational bubble was popped after a while by Liam and Leah.

"Do you speak Spanish?" Liam asked.

"What?" I asked, blinking at the odd question.

"Sorry, when I said _I_ assumed you were Latina, I meant all three of us did." Leah whispered, shielding her mouth from the side so Liam couldn't attempt to read her lips.

"I'm not Hispanic, but I speak a little. Alexander is better than me." I answered truthfully. I took Spanish in school, so I really had no faith in my skills in the tongue.

"If you're not Latin, are you Indian or something?" Liam asked.

I nodded, a bit surprised that he guessed correctly. "Yeah."

"Oh. Hey, what's with the dot?"

"What?"

"The red dot. What's with it?" He tapped the spot between his brows with a finger.

"I'm not that kind of Indian." I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. It was an honest mistake and it happened.

"Ooh, you mean the dudes with the tepees and the body paint and the whole live off the land ideal?"

Now I really had to fight to not roll my eyes. "Yeah."

"Forgive him or don't," Leah said, waving her hand as if to dismiss the man beside her. "He's an idiot."

"Hey!" He snapped. "I'm an _uncultured_ idiot. If you're going to insult me I'd appreciate it if you got it right."

"Hey guys," Graham's faintly accented voice called. "I hate to break up the party, but we're almost there. Might be a good idea to prepare yourselves."

With those words, the atmosphere changed and caused us to sober up. Leah and Liam turned and sat straight in there seats again, and Astrid jumped into the next row to wedge herself between the co-pilot seat and Liam's legs. I looked back up at Blue Eyes, involuntarily biting my lip as nerves caused my stomach to drop.

_"I'm afraid."_ I signed to him, wanting to get it off my chest before I had to face my fear.

_"Nothing will hurt you. Not while I'm here."_ He replied with a grunt. His eyes narrowed and he pulled me closer in a show of protectiveness. I knew his words were true, but I still couldn't help but feel anxious.

_"I haven't seen my in two years. When I left I was a scared little girl trying to hide her bruises from the world. What if she doesn't like the new me?"_ I confessed another one of my worries.

_"Then she's an idiot and doesn't deserve to be around you. Would you like Sage any less if she made some sort of big transition like you did?"_ He added.

_"Of course not, she's my baby! She could grow a tail and decide to go live in some remote cave and I'd still love her just as much."_ My hands formed the words faster than I could think them. Inwardly I was appalled by the notion that anything could change the way I felt about my sweet little child.

Blue Eyes gave a gentle smile as he arched a brow at me. _"Do you think your mother would feel any different? You're her daughter. Besides,"_ he added with a grin. _"Who can resist your charms?"_

I couldn't help the giggle that escaped my lips, but I was glad it was quiet enough to go unnoticed. I swatted his pec lightly and tried to hide my smile. He pulled me onto his lap to offer extra comfort and I leaned into him, craning my neck to try to catch a glimpse of this taboo destination. But there was nothing to see yet. We were driving through a birch tree copse down a barely held together, two lane road, and there was no sign of human life as of yet. But that didn't mean my guard didn't go up.

Fifteen minutes later, Graham pulled off road and wove carefully through the trees until he reached a large stream tucked up against a foothill that seemed to be missing a mountain. Or maybe the mountain hadn't formed yet. A few weeping willow trees bordered the water on each bank, and I was surprised when the man actually drove _into_ the water. It amazed me that the water didn't even reach higher than the tires, and up ahead I heard Malcolm ask the same question on my mind.

"It must be deeper than this. What's going on?"

"There's quite a large stone bed just under the surface." The Brit explained. "It's not much wider than the truck, thank god, before it dips away about five feet if I had to guess."

He pulled out onto the bank and drove right under the leafy vines of a willow tree. Graham continued to bewilder me as he made a three point turn inside the willow vines and started reversing. Blue Eyes and I craned our necks backward to watch out the trunk window in wonder. The leaves opened up into darkness, and I was about to call a warning when I realized, we were backing into a cave.

He was hiding the SUV.

"Time to get ready. We're on foot from here." Graham called, though it seemed he was trying to keep his voice down.

"How close are we?" Blue Eyes asked as we piled out.

"We're about a quarter mile away. I don't want the car to be seen, we need to keep this as down low as possible." Graham added.

All of us headed to the back of the truck, opening up the trunk. Liam was the first to reach in and pull something out. It was a dog harness of sorts, and he called Astrid to attention and she held perfectly still as he clipped and strapped it onto her. He praised her and gave her a small round treat from the strange belt he had snapped around his waist. The belt was black and blended with his dark washed pants, and it sported two holsters on each hip, both held guns. After strapping a strange rifle-like weapon to his back, he pulled on a jacket with the label, _"O.S.I.R.I.S. Security Elite."_ over the pocket and on the side of the arms. Another laminated badge hung from his pocket underneath the OSIRIS label with his profile and a few words printed on that I assumed was his name and other important information. There was also a bar code printed underneath his picture.

Leah grabbed what looked like one of those strap on leather holsters policemen wore under their clothes and strapped it to herself. Then she went into a bag and pulled out a blazer-like garment to wear over the gun holsters, which both carried small firearms. I chose that moment to squeeze in and grab my short bow and quiver from the vehicle, along with the leather customized holster I could strap to my thigh outside my jeans. I buckled my quiver around my waist and turned to help Blue Eyes strap his machete to his back. In return, he reached behind me into the trunk and strapped the vine and animal skin encased daggers to my hips.

"You look good." I murmured to him as I made some adjustments to the leather strap over his shoulder so it would fit more comfortably.

"So do you." He replied quietly, holding my hips for a moment before we moved out of the way of everyone else. I meant it when I said he looked good, the strap went vertically across his chest in the opposite direction than the bear claws marred into his body, creating almost an X appearance. Over the few short years I'd known him, his eyes had brightened in a way I couldn't accurately describe, it was as if there was an ity bity lightbulb behind his irises that made the color bolder and more vibrant in a shockingly beautiful contrast to his dark brown fur.

His face had also filled out and matured, a strong jawline accompanied a filled out but not distinctly prominent brow. The texture of his fur had also changed a little, back when I first met him, in most lights his fur would appear black, with an almost blue sheen to it like Cornelia's. But now, it was a rich dark brown that contrasted wonderfully with his newly age enhanced eyes. His face wasn't the only thing that filled out on him, he had gotten taller and his whole body was also hardened from excessive hunting and working to provide for the colony. All in all, in the span of three years he went from handsomely adorable, to just plain hot. At least in my opinion.

I was aware that I had changed as well. I didn't know if I had grown any, to me I was still short and small as ever. But I was aware that I was kept lean by using the trees to help with the small game hunting I put in, along with helping out with chores all around the village, topped with chasing around my twins along with the other village children. My hair had gained a variety of browns and blacks as well, continuously sun bleached and drenched by the always changing weather back home. That was as far as I knew about my changes, and I was content to remain oblivious to anything superficial about my appearance. I was healthy and able to take care of my children and my home, and that was enough for me.

When I glanced at everyone else, I seen Leah helping Alexander with the lapels of the security guard jacket on his person. Graham and Malcolm were passing them out. Their plan was that we act as if we're a patrol escorting Dr. Graham Casey and Dr. Leah Saunders here through the facility after testing 'motor functions' in one of the subjects, aka Blue Eyes. Graham said that he'd be able to acquire the special bracelets test subjects wore to wrap around his wrist. I didn't like it, but adjustments had to be made to their original plan since they hadn't planned on the extra people. I don't know why, Malcolm had to know me well enough to know that I would insist on going, and not without a companion from home. Alexander was another thing, Father should have known that his younger son would object to being excluded.

I was handed my own jacket and Leah offered me a hair band from her wrist. "Most of the female guards wear their hair up, if it's not cut short. It'll help you blend in."

I nodded and started combing my hair upwards, before I paused and sighed when I realized I would have to remove the beads hanging from the little braids in my hair. Blue Eyes helped me and gave me a quick grooming session to help neaten my hair. In return, after I had a ponytail swinging behind my neck, I couldn't help but straighten out Blue Eyes' hair as well. Sometimes he was as bad as River, always finding ways to mess it up.

With that, Graham began the trek to this city-fabled facility. I walked between my father and my husband while Graham and Liam took up the front, Astrid strutting faithfully along beside her partner. Worry and apprehensive fear bubbled through me, and I reached for Blue Eyes' hand for support. He gladly took up my hand and gave me a reassuring squeeze. A glance from those cerulean orbs helped ease me, but it only lasted as long as eye contact maintained.

We picked our way through the stretch of woodland that was so sparse it had rocks littering the ground under fallen leaves, tripping us like concealed bear traps. After only thirty minutes of walking Graham said, "we're here."

I looked past the shrub line and didn't see a thing. The stretch of woodland gave way to a dead field, void of green. There was nothing.

"Where?" Alexander asked, voicing my thoughts.

"Over here." Liam murmured, his voice sounding completely different without it's normal underlying mirth. He directed us to the base of a dead pacific yew tree, and crouched down and started shoveling away armfuls of needles and leaves. Astrid moved to help the man, and soon a cellar door was revealed embedded in the ground. I licked my lips and drew in a deep breath, stepping closer to Blue Eyes.

Somewhere down there I had a mother and a new brother waiting for me. I prayed to God that everyone came out of this alive.

* * *

 

**I feel this story isn't as good as My Little Bird. I feel the quality of my chapters could really be better, and it would help A LOT if you guys could tell me how you think I'm doing. I want to improve as a writer and I want to make this story worth while to read. So do you feel I should be working on bettering my chapters? Input is highly appreciated**


	8. Chapter 8

A dead end.

Confusion bloomed in my mind at the odd occurrence. What was the use of a secret door that led to nowhere? We stood at the bottom of a small staircase that had only enough steps to get the head underground, to find that not eight feet away was a wall of rock and dirt sitting on a cement floor, completely blocking our way.

It was dark and smelled strongly of leaf mold, and the only light was what filtered in weakly from the entrance, the door still open. Graham patted the wall blindly with his palms for a few moments before he drew in a breath, apparently finding whatever he was looking for. I heard a strange sound, it only lasted about three seconds before a soft bang sounded deep in the wall. I flinched and sidestepped nervously, Blue Eyes, Malcolm and Alexander did the same, not knowing what to expect. I tucked myself close to my prince's side and held his arm in my hands as a loud grinding sound echoed dully off the wet walls.

The wall of dirt and rock suddenly jerked, dust and other earthly particles shook free from the stone before the entire wall started moving. It slid to the right and disappeared into the wall, leaving those of us who didn't know what would happen to stare in bewilderment. A switch was flipped by Leah, and a bright, white light blinked harshly to life, quickly followed by another, then another and so on. A long, dusty hallway was revealed, looking washed out and almost even pallid underneath the bright lights hanging from the ceiling.

"Alright, huddle up." Graham dropped to his knee, digging into the backpack on his back. He pulled out a few rolls of paper, and when unrolled I recognized them as blueprints. Lines of blue ink traced out the facility, and damn was it big. If I was reading them correctly, this place had four levels, not including a complex looking basement.

"We're here," Graham placed his finger on the outside of the fist level. If he was being accurate, and from what else I'd observed about him, he strived for accuracy, so that meant this hall wasn't even on the prints. "This is the layout of the entire facility," he gestured to all the blueprints. "But we are in a secret corridor originally built for emergencies, but it was dubbed inefficient and dangerous for an evacuation, so the routes were supposedly sealed off."

"This was true, until Mr. Ethan here had a bit of a mishap, and found, or should I say, crashed," Graham glanced up at Liam, who gave a nervous chuckle and grin. "right into it. From there we were able to find and re-open the rest of the entrance and exit points. This is one of them. This one runs through here, and then there's a narrow staircase leading down to the second level, Miss Harley and the boy are housed here." His finger traced a path for us, and I worked to memorize it quickly.

"Problem is, we're not exactly sure where they are right _now_." He added before my hopes could go up too much. "They could be together or they could be in examination rooms on completely different sides and levels of the facility."

"So, a few of you will stay with me, and Liam will take a few of you with him to one of the surveillance rooms to disable the cameras. I already sent out a memo before we left, telling all of whom it concerns that we would be debugging the system and that mass power downs were to be expected. So all Liam's team needs to do is get rid of the on-duty guards in the room. Which I advise you to leave to Liam."

"I can clear a room like nobody's business." Liam snickered.

I rolled my eyes at the boyish comment and waited for Graham to continue our little team meet. Honestly I wished we could have covered all of this before we actually got behind enemy lines, but I understood that our priority had been focusing on actually getting here safely and undetected first. But now that we were here I was glad to see that Graham and the others had thought this through well enough. Thankfully, Leah found it necessary to give Liam a cuff upside the head to reprimand him for his childishness in such a serious setting, and I heard the slightest puff of air from Blue Eyes, and I knew that he appreciated Leah's choice as well.

"Guys." Malcolm snapped lightly, using his 'Chief Maddock voice'. (Alex and I had taken to calling the commanding tone 'The Batman Voice' when no one was around) With that, all distraction was purged and we paid attention to the two people in charge here.

"As I was saying," Graham glanced at Liam. "I'll take a few of you with me and we'll find out where they both are. Once that happens, we'll work out any complications, split up if they're separated and use the corridors to rendezvous back here. Any questions? Should I repeat anything?"

"Wait, wait." I interrupted. "If Liam's team is going to a surveillance room, why not use the cameras to find my mom _before_ disabling them?"

The corridor was quiet.

"And that's why they say that behind every great man is a stronger woman." Leah smirked.

Graham cleared his throat a bit awkwardly. "Yes, well, I'm not sure that's exactly how that saying goes...but Miss Harley is onto something. I say her idea is simpler."

I felt a mixture of surprise, appreciativeness and shyness at the fact that my idea had actually been taken seriously and even deemed better than the initiative. I found myself respecting this Englishman a little more at his ability to see and understand a (for lack of a better word) better plan and was able to make a change without fuss.

"That's my girl." Malcolm praised. "Is everyone still on the same page? Does anyone have any questions?"

"Who's going with who?" Alexander piped up, asking the question I assumed was on everyone's minds.

"Alexander, and Rain, you're with Liam. Malcolm and Blue Eyes, you two are coming with Leah and I." The Brit replied. My breath hitched slightly when I heard I'd be separated from my husband, but I wasn't about to speak up and cause delay.

"What do I do?" Blue Eyes asked.

"You'll stay with us. Some subjects are extremely well behaved and are sometimes given special privileges. In this case, I could always say that you are one of these few, and you get to accompany the doctors without restraints."

"What about my scars?" The ape pointed out.

"I've already thought that over. About a year ago, an old bear broke loose and while we were retrieving it, some subjects got caught up in the crossfire. If questioned, all you need to mention is the bear incident. Am I correct to assume a bear really did do that?" He added, motioning to my husband's scarred chest.

He nodded with a grunt.

"Great, and on the way, I'll snag a security bracelet for you." Graham added again.

"We should leave this stuff here, it would be a bit weird if you and I walked around carrying backpacks for no apparent reason." Leah pointed out to Graham, referring to the backpacks beside them.

He nodded in agreement. "We'll leave them. Liam, you guys will take a copy of the blueprints, just so we're clear on where to go. I've already traced out the corridor networks in these." He dug around in his backpack and pulled out four more rolls of blueprints and handed them to aforementioned security guard. Liam zipped them up again, safe inside his own backpack. I had a duffle bag myself, filled with clothes for my mom and new younger brother, along with a few other necessities Ellie had thought of.

"Alright, one more thing, you're all going to want to wear these." He dug into a pocket and pulled out a handful of small devices.

"What are those?" Alexander asked.

"Em... They're sort of like Bluetooth."

No one seemed to have something to say afterward. The little contraptions looked more like hearing aids to me. They each had a small ball I was fairly sure was supposed to slip inside your ear, attached to a small curved device with a wire.

"So...you want us to talk with these?" Alex asked, not seeing how what the man was implying would work. I supposed it was from the lack of an obvious mouth piece.

"Every good plan has room for mistakes. If something happens we all need to know so proper adjustments can be made." The bespectacled man said, before Leah showed us how to put them on and where the hidden button to push was if we wanted to say something. It felt weird around my ear but I deducted that it was only from my strong awareness of it hugging the cartilage shell. My hair soon fell over it, concealing it from sight.

"Aright, everyone knows where we're going?" Dad checked again. We all quietly chorused an affirmation, and Graham informed us that we would be going down this hallway and stopping in an emergency bunker to pick up a few extra utility belts for Alex, Malcolm and I to complete the security guard guise.

Once we reached this place and collected said items, we only had to traverse maybe twenty more feet before Graham stopped and turned to the wall hovering over his left shoulder. I couldn't tell why he had stopped there, until he stuck four fingers into some kind of hidden handle inside the concrete. This confused me; the walls were narrow and made of cement, so what did this less than bulky man plan to do? He turned and raised a finger to his lips, universally gesturing everyone to hold our silence before he pressed an ear to the wall. When he seemed to find satisfactory results, he slowly pulled his hand in, but what surprised me, was that some sort of door followed. My oddball eyes zeroed in on this mini-conundrum of mine and in the poor quality lighting, I took notice of small, grainy indents.

It was a wooden door, painted to match the concrete walls.

Clever idea. If you didn't know it was there, I would have subconsciously overlooked it completely. The man peeked through the small crack, and motioned for us to stay where we were. There was no light coming in from the door, and when he came back out he had a small white strip of flexible material. He gestured Blue Eyes forward and proceeded to snap the band in place around his wrist. It must have been the identification tag Graham had mentioned.

"This is a supply closet, Liam, time for you three to branch off, you know the way." Graham said.

I took a deep breath and shared a glance with Alexander. He tried to give me a reassuring smile, but I could see his nerves in the quick fall at the corners of his lips. I scooted forward, past my father and Leah, giving the taller man a very quick hug as I passed, and he returned it and ran a hand from my shoulder down to the tips of my fingers as I kept walked. Liam and Alex slipped into the supply closet, and someone flicked on a light inside. My feet stopped in front of my husband, and I buried myself in his torso tightly for as long as I could, and before I could completely pull away I took his face into my hands and looked up into those crystalline orbs I loved so dearly.

"Promise me you'll be careful." I murmured, my worry for him bubbling up lightly.

"I will if you will." He replied softly, dipping down and planting a soft, slow peck on my lips. It may have been fleeting, but the emotion soaked into it was completely obvious to me. His words rang familiar, and my thoughts brought me back to the incident in the city, the morning after we had confessed our feelings for one another. I had been the one to ask that of him when he had gone back into the belly of the beast. I pulled myself away with one last peck and turned, stepping into the small closet with my brother and Liam, Astrid right by his side.

Graham closed the doors, and I didn't get another glimpse of Blue Eyes or my dad. Liam ran his hand along the seam of the door and made sure it was concealed properly. I was astounded at how far these people had went to blend the door in with its surroundings. Whomever had done the work had done a very good job, and I worried I might not be able to find the other entrances. But I didn't get time to dwell on that, I'd tackle every issue as it presented itself. Liam checked the hallway outside the door, and gave an affirmation that it was okay to exit the small closet. Alex and I walked out first, followed by Astrid and Liam after the man flicked the light switch off.

I took a deep breath and took in my new surroundings, my senses tuning into hyper-awareness. The first thing I noticed was the smell, strongly antiseptic, as if it had been freshly mopped. The floor was classic white linoleum, and the walls were a colorless, barren drywall. A sense of paranoia creeped into my stomach, and though my breathing wasn't labored, it seemed loud over the dull ringing in my ears. The halls were air conditioned, and I held the ends of my security jacket closer to my palms to lock in the heat that seemed to have left my suddenly sweaty hands.

"It's this way." Liam murmured after a quick glance down each side of the hall.

Alex and I walked close to each other, and I was grateful for the comfort his close proximity provided. I felt like a scared fawn, following its mother through uncharted woodland. I could hear Astrid's claws clinking on the tiles as we walked, and I took a deep breath to try and clear the nervous anxiety in my chest. Liam led us down the hall, and I tried my best to memorize the turns he took, but the hallways were barely less than a maze to me, and very plain; thus bare of quality landmarks. I wondered how Liam managed to keep his bearings in this unpleasant, chemical scented labyrinth.

I felt bad for Astrid, the antiseptic wash was mildly burning my nose, so I could only imagine the torture the dog's poor nose has been through. I didn't know how she could stand it. But I held my tongue and followed along quietly. We turned another corner and I did my best not to stiffen when two people in white laboratory coats walked by. But both completely ignored us, not even sparing a glance. I let out a breath I hadn't known my lungs were locking up. At the end of this new hall, I could see that there was a room with another doctor and another security guard, and a desk where I believed some kind of receptionist sat.

But before we made it down there, Liam stopped outside a door to my left, and gave a soft knock. He didn't wait for an answer, and opened the door and walked through. Alexander and I stepped inside after Astrid's swishing tail, and the first thing I thought of was how stereotypical this room was. It was small and dark, and the walls were covered in monitors ranging from big to small. There were two men inside, and they sat up straight and at attention when they saw the German Shepard at his feet.

"Ethan, when did you get back?" One said, speaking on a familiar basis.

"Some ungodly hour." Liam lied with a nonchalant shrug. "I have to start the debug, you two are relieved of duty."

"But-"

"Come on, go find some other place to shirk your work, we have a job to do." Liam interrupted, growing impatient. This wasn't the man I had seen during this trip, now he was commanding and snippy instead of constantly cracking jokes and messing around. Dax would have liked him very much. I could see my brother even developing feelings for him. I pushed thoughts of my bigger brother out of my head and focused on the here and now again.

The two men decided not to disobey the Elite, and by the lack of dogs and certain badges on their uniforms, I assumed they didn't have the authority to. Very cutely, Astrid reached up and pushed the door closed after them with her front paws, something I would have fawned over had nervous adrenaline not been coursing through my veins. Liam clapped his hands and rubbed his palms together, his skin hissing softly as he did so before he said, "Right, let's get started."

He sat down and started scanning the monitors, and typed a few things in on the keyboard. "Okay, usually they're on these floors, so I guess that's the best place to start."

The monitors closest to us changed, and the three of us started scanning the screens. What I saw made my jaw drop. Graham had been right. Some excitements seemed like less endured on a physical check up, but some...

Cringe-worthy was a good term to use.

Leah had been right as well, I saw animals of all kinds as well as people. I saw a border collie, I saw what looked like a large bird of prey, and if I had to guess I would have said it was a condor. But then again that's only my guess, and I hopped I was either wrong or that in the absence of loggers, the majestic birds managed to hatch their way off the endangered species list. I even saw primates. I seen a ring tailed lemur, what I thought was either a vervet or a langur monkey, and a few other small species I didn't know the name of. I'm pretty sure I also spotted a lioness. All of it made me sick. Those poor things, humans included, had a whole new world up there that I doubted they had ever touched. Though their opinions on said world were in the eye of the beholder.

I didn't see my mother, but I did see a child with long dark hair, and though that hair hid his features, something about him made me freeze. "Who is that?" I asked, pointing him out.

Through the corner of my eye I seen Liam grin. "That's your little brother." I felt Alexander's breath on the nape of my neck as he leaned closer for a better look.

"Is he far?" My older brother asked.

Liam didn't answer him, but he reached up and pressed the button on his earpiece. "Casey, Maddock. We found the kid."

I heard his voice in my communication device as well. It crackled for a split second before Graham's voice replied, "and Lana?"

His accented voice pronounced my mother's name differently, but it wasn't necessarily incorrect, so I didn't try to correct him. He also pronounced the 'a' in my last name differently, but I had been letting that slide as well.

"Not in sight. Give me a moment, I'll check the dorm quarters." He typed on the keyboard again, and the monitors flipped to different stations again.

It didn't take my eyes long to land on a woman pacing back and forth in front of a full sized, no doubt thin mattress cot. The small but lean frame, dainty looking shoulders, the way she paced. She had picked up the pacing habit from Dax, whom had picked that up from Malcolm.

"There she is!" I gasped. "Where is this?"

Again Liam ignored us, but he patched into Graham's team. "We found her. She's in her dorm. The boy is awaiting retrieval in room D-2 level 2."

Maybe twenty seconds passed before the earpiece crackled again, though each second felt triple its time as my heart thumped against my ribs like a mallet to its percussion drum. "We're closer to Miss Harley, you three go pickup the boy. We rendezvous back in the corridors. Everyone clear?" He added.

"Raina, Alexander, watch your asses out there." Malcolm's voice cut in.

Alex and I exchanged a glance before I answered. "We'll be fine, Dad."

"You should go get Mom now." Alexander added before taking his finger off the button, signifying that he was done speaking. I paused and took a long glance at him at the term he had used. I knew he remembered his mother, though she was one of the numbers in some of the first death counts at the beginning of the Flu epidemic. The fact that he had called _my_ mother his mom made me elated at the notion that I might have not so much of a broken biological family. Long before I had traveled up to Mount Tamalpais with Dax, I had been hoping Malcolm and my mother would get together, because all three of us children were plainly able to see the feelings between the two. My thoughts back then had been that even though I had thought he wasn't my father, I had been more than ready to call him my dad.

It filled me with happy pride that Alexander must have felt similarly toward my mother. The boy felt my eyes on him, and when our eyes met I gave him one of the kindest smiles I could manage, one I normally reserved for my children. My brother returned it and grabbed my hand, interlocking our fingers for a moment before our attention was pulled back to Liam. He was cursing profusely at a computer screen.

"Having problems?" I asked.

"Screw this shit." Was his only reply.

A look at the monitor he was working on told me he couldn't figure out how to disable the cameras. Thankfully, (and surprisingly) Alexander was able to step up.

"Move aside." He sat in the other chair and wheeled it into Liam's spot after the Elite had moved. Alex's fingers started flitting across the keyboard with astounding vivacity, and within two minutes he had the monitors fizzing to grey, the cameras shut down.

"How'd you do that?" Liam asked, watching the last monitor shut down.

"He reads." I answered for him, and my brother nodded in confirmation.

"Wow, okay then." He clapped his hands again. "Let's go bag ourselves a small boy."

"Dude..." Alexander cringed.

"What? Bad word choice?"

"Please don't say anything like that ever again." I said, trying not to give him a look. "I'm saying this for your own good."

"Okay, mom." He smirked, attempting to hide a snicker.

I gaped at him as he opened the door and allowed Astrid to lead the way out. I wasn't mothering him! Was I? I decided to push it to the back of my mind as we hurried out of the room. Even though Liam had phrased it terribly, he was right, I had a little brother to meet and rescue.

* * *

**Hey guys, sorry for the wait but I want to focus on bettering my content. Thank you to those who gave me feedback, it's much appreciated. If you could continue to do that it would help immensely. So there will most likely be a bit of a longer wait than usual, but I'm trying.**

**Thank you all so much for the support, it means the world and it keeps my head up, which I really need right now. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story, keep being amazing!**


	9. Chapter 9

"This is Elite Ethan, who is retrieving subject PHP347 from examination?" Liam asked into his walkie-talkie-like device as we hurried down another set of hallways.

"That would be Kolp and I, sir." A voice said through the walkie.

"State your name and rank."

"Second Private Mendez, sir."

"I'm taking two rookies to see how we do things during retrieval, Kolp and yourself are relieved of duty." He said.

"Yes sir." Was the reply that ended the conversation.

"Just in time." Liam said to us as we rounded a corner. This hallway was filled with doors beside glass windows. The windows were very thick and had little circular holes in them. I wouldn't doubt it if they were plexi-glass or something of the sort.

I scanned the small plastic name plates beside the doors for room D-2, as I remembered Liam calling it. It was at the opposite end of the hallway, but Liam was the first to unlock it by scanning the barcode underneath his ID badge. I looked inside the window to see the child sitting in the same position as he had been when I had spotted him on the security feed. He sat on a chair with his feet dangling down, his head bowed and long shoulder length hair falling thickly from his cranium, shielding his features from me. Even though I couldn't see what he really looked like, I could see the native blood in him. Suddenly I worried my blood pressure might drop from the amount of worrying I was stringing together with blocks of breathlessness and cause me to faint.

The door gave the softest of clicks and at the small sound, the boy's head snapped up. His little lips parted as his gaze flicked over Alexander, Liam and I, but I noticed that confusion was not the emotion that caused the boy's eyes to widen. Not confusion but...excitement? Liam opened the door and stepped inside the threshold, holding it open for my older brother and I. The Elite and his partner shut the door again and they both stood sentry, quietly suggesting we hurry it up.

I crouched down in front the child's chair, and looked at my younger sibling's face for the first time. He had our father's cheekbones, and our mother's full lips, and though his nose hadn't developed enough to tell me who he inherited it from, his eyes were all his own. They were the color of rich brown soil, the kind that smells fresh and feels soft and cool when cupped in your palms. But there was something very irregular about those eyes.

His irises had a band of bright blue to the right side.

He had sectoral Heterochromia.

I was rendered speechless for a moment as I took in the unique coloration, so much so that I barely had a moment to recognize that those odd little eyes were shining with ignorant happiness. The feel of Alexander's body pressing close to my back as he took in our new baby brother's face brought me back to the here and now. I didn't have time to waste, but when I opened my mouth to speak, I realized something more than a little idiotic of me.

I didn't even know his name!

I huffed out a short cleansing breath, pushing away all thoughts of my forgetfulness and self-annoyance away. I didn't have time to reprimand myself for it yet.

"Hi," I breathed softly, not expecting the feeling of breathlessness that suddenly started slowly siphoning the oxygen from my lungs as I tried to speak normally. "What's your name?"

The way he smiled made it seem as if invisible strings at the corners of his mouth slowly inched upward. "Leone."

"Leone? Hi, I'm Rain, and this is Alexander, we're you're friends." I said gently, giving a kind smile that I hoped hid how nervous I was. I heard Alexander utter a small, slightly shaking greeting, and it made me feel better to know that he was feeling anxious about this initial meeting as well. After all, they do say that you only get one first impression.

"Brother said you'd come. For me and _Etsi."_

I sucked in a gasp at the Cherokee word. _Mother._ But my surprise was overcome by sudden confusion.

"What? Who's Brother?" I asked, tilting my head.

Little Leone only smiled at me like _I_ was the child here. "He's big brother, silly. You know, the boy with the hat." He patted the top of his head for emphasis. I glanced back to exchange a glance with Alexander.

"You don't think he means..?" Alex trailed off, whispering in my ear.

"No. That's impossible." I dismissed the notion right away. It just wasn't plausible, there was no way!

"Three years ago, talking apes were impossible." He replied, stirring memories of those words escaping my other brother's mouth during our initial first meeting with Caesar, Rocket and Blue Eyes. I decided to try again with Leone, pushing away the thought of my oldest brother. But before I could speak again, the child beat me to it.

"You're my sister, huh?"

I paused at that.

"How did you know that?" Alexander asked. I wondered if maybe the young boy had recognized the resemblance I had with our mother.

"That means, you're my brother too!" He exclaimed, pointing at Alex. "Right?"

My jaw had officially dropped. I leaned forward slightly, my head quirked in a display of my confusion. "Leone," I said my younger brother's name for the first time, and I liked the way it felt on my tongue. "How did you know all that?"

"I told you," his shoulders slumped in exasperation. "Big brother told me."

"But _who_ is big brother?" I asked. "What's his name?"

"I forget."

"Hey, guys?" Liam said. "I hate to interrupt the family moment, but we have to go. They're onto our little fib."

I bit back a curse and focused on the boy again. "Will you tell me about it later? We have to go now."

Liam tuned into our communication devices. "We have the boy, but be careful, security is onto us. I suggest you take some extra precautions. We're proceeding to the rendezvous point now."

Malcolm's hushed voice answered. "Good, we're getting Lana right now. See you soon."

I held out a hand and helped Leone down from the chair before passing him to Alexander, whom the little boy looked up at with a big smile. Astrid gave a small, low growl, and all Liam had to do to quiet the animal was softly recite her name. The Elite scanned his ID badge again and once more the door gave a soft click before it opened.

We ushered the child out and started following Liam again, but now, as I focused on the sound of our feet padding mutely on the sickeningly clean linoleum tiles and the quick clicking of Astrid's claws, I let myself wonder how little Leone had known that Alexander was his brother as well. How he had recognized me I could pin on maternal resemblance but Alexander closely resembled our father, he had none of Lana's traits. So how had he known? It couldn't have been of my mom telling the boy stories with Alex in them, because that still didn't give a reason as to why the boy had known that the young man was family. He had said it so _certainly_.

And then there was this 'Big Brother' conundrum. I knew what Alex thought, and the notion had flashed in my mind the moment before Alexander had suggested it, but I simply couldn't let myself believe that the boy could have been talking about my Dax. It was just too painful to even consider. My thoughts were snapped away from me when I heard the squeak of sneakers and a shout of recognition from behind me. We looked back to see four guards, bodies tense and eyes trained on us.

_Shit!_ I internally hissed.

"Go, go, go!" Liam shouted. "Astrid, scout!"

In a flash all three of us were dashing down the hall, Leone swept up into Alexander's arms, the German Shepard sprinted ahead of us at the sound of her partner's command. My heart thumped in my chest as adrenaline kicked in again, like a fresh wave hitting a damp sandbar. I wanted to ask Liam where he was taking us, how far the nearest corridor entrance was, but I feared giving away our destination to the enemy. Speaking of which, I could hear the rubber soles of their boots beating the tiles, thuds echoing loudly in my ears, pushing paranoia into my mind. We rounded a corner, an empty one, thank god, but there was a cart of some sort in the way and I had to side-skip to avoid barreling into it when I hugged the wall too closely, and the tip of my boot caught on the floor. I only barely saved myself from falling, but it had cost me precious seconds and now I was maybe five feet behind the rest of my team, and I could hear the guards barreling down on us.

"You good, Harley?" Liam called, taking only the shortest of glimpses over his shoulder before his eyes focused on where he was going again.

"Yeah!" I called back, trying to regulate my breathing as my chest heaved hard to compensate for the extra pumps my heart was giving to keep up with this dangerous dash. But I had lost too much precious time, and I couldn't even call out when I felt fingers dig into my arm due to the hand that covered my mouth so roughly it might as well have been a slap. The force caused me to accidentally bite my lip and I felt a stinging sensation introduce the taste of copper to my tongue. I struggled and tried to scream, and when the sound was muffled too much I tried to stamp my feet loudly on the ground, but my team didn't hear it. Before I could think of another way to get their attention, they rounded the corner and were gone.

Heart hammering in my chest, I wriggled violently and screamed into the hand silencing me, but I found it futile as my struggling only forced the man to hold onto me tighter, like an anaconda, squeezing all hope of breath and escape into cracked bones and ruptured organs. A second man kicked the back of my knee, and I dropped with a pained cry at the harsh blow.

"Just shut up and freeze, you're only making it harder on yourself!" The third man hissed. He and the other two men were all pointing guns at me, though I doubted they were actual guns. I didn't think that the superiors here would allow the guards to carry fatal weaponry, these experiments seemed too important to them. The weapons trained on me now we're likely some sort of stun guns. That didn't make me feel any better about them being pointed at my forcefully prostrated person.

"What should we do with her?" One of them asked.

"For now, we'll drop her in a dorm room and see what the uppers suggest." The one holding me down replied.

Panic flared like venom in my veins, my heart pumped the acidic-seeming concoction through my body, and fueled the most stupid move I could have ever made. A sudden jerk of my shoulders took the guard holding me by surprise, and I was momentarily freed, so I reeled my arm back and jabbed my elbow up at an angle, digging it right into the man's crotch. I heard him give a loud, blunt shout and felt his body weight shift to avoid falling on top of me as he fell to his knees. The last thing I heard was the shouts of the other three guards and then the dull ring and sharp crackle of electricity. My teeth clenched together and my body stiffened, multiple electrodes shot out of the gun barrels and sent pain shooting through my body. When I was preoccupied with trying my best to avoid accidentally biting my tongue off, a different kind of pain struck hard and mercilessly into the crown of my skull, and I dropped, blackness falling over me before I could register what had just happened to me.

* * *

"We have a problem!" Liam's short of breath voice hummed in Blue Eyes' ear. He cocked his head to listen, the fur on his shoulders threatening to bristle at his tone. "We're being pursued, we need a new meet up!"

"Where are you right now?" Malcolm asked, his tone steely.

"Coming up on a corridor. Close to break room D5." His rushed reply came.

"We'll meet you there, don't get spotted." Graham said.

Blue Eyes' team had just re-entered the escape halls when the message was received. They had retrieved a woman whom greatly resembled his wife, and though Blue Eyes could easily pick out the differences, he could see what everyone had been talking about when they mentioned the similarity between the two. The woman in question looked to Malcolm in confusion, queuing him to fill her in on what just happened. She didn't have a communication device.

Blue Eyes' mind was on Rain, contemplating on whether or not he should try to contact her. His judgement told him not to, if she were trying to run right now, he would do nothing to distract her. But that didn't stop him from worrying. The team had changed course, and were now hurrying down the narrow halls, the whole time Blue Eyes bit back a few growls of annoyance at the lack of space, and he found himself cursing his broadened shoulders.

They shuffled as quickly as they could through the concrete maze, following Leah and Graham. Scenarios flickered behind Blue Eyes' namesakes, the majority doing nothing but adding to the rising waters of his growing anxiety. His stomach was flipping around inside him, and he felt a deep down instinct unearthing itself inside him, urging him to pick up the pace and get to his mate's side and defend her from her assailants. But he couldn't. He knew that if he just dashed off with fire under his feet, he'd likely get lost in the halls and would ultimately be of no help what so ever.

When they'd traveled for maybe five minutes, Blue Eyes paused when he heard a swift knocking in a section of wall he'd just passed. He gave a few soft, attention grabbing grunts and raised an arm, the way he would to stop his hunting party to begin adjusting positions to get a better vantage point to strike down prey. Blue Eyes scanned the wall, and with careful observation, he was able to pick out the difference in the texture of the door. After finding that, finding the concealed handle seemed like child's play. Malcolm was the first person to get to Blue Eyes' side, followed by Lana and Graham. The accented man knocked on the wall twice before pulling at the concealed door.

Astrid slipped through first, her tongue lolling out of her jaws as she panted, then Liam and Alexander all but fell through after her. Blue Eyes could tell by their ragged breaths and the way they slumped against the walls, pressing the cool concrete to their heated bodies that they had run a long way. Alexander leaned down for a moment, setting down something he'd been carrying in his arms. It stood on its feet and reveled itself to be a small boy, one who had long dark hair, and was now crouched, hugging Alexander's legs.

"Leo!" He heard Lana's voice gasp. Blue Eyes stepped aside and let the woman rush to her child.

The ape's stomach lurched, and he knew something was very wrong. Three people had left this group, but only three returned when there should have been four.

"Where's Rain?" He asked, his attention snapping back to the two men, who were still panting and hunched over slightly.

"What?" Liam breathed, winded.

"Where is my Rain?" He asked again, fighting to keep from growling at the other male.

"Shit!" Alexander suddenly hissed. _"Shit!"_

"Where is she?!" Malcolm all but shouted, and was softly shushed by Leah, though the man seemed in no mood to listen. Blue Eyes felt the same. He knew what would be said before it was uttered, and he was now fighting to control his emotions and his instincts. His breathing got heavier as he thought of his wife, scared somewhere in some steel flecked examination room like the one they'd found Lana in.

"She was right behind us!" Liam gasped.

"Rain was here?" Lana suddenly piped up. Then she suddenly turned and gave Malcolm a good punch to the arm. "You let my daughter inside this place?!" She hissed.

"I didn't want any of them here, but they're nothing if not strong willed." The man defended himself.

But Lana didn't want to hear any of it. Blue Eyes knew Rain well enough to tell that this woman wasn't done with that conversation, and the more reasonable part of his mind gave his sympathies to Malcolm. But the rest of him couldn't care less. He didn't want to read the body language of a person who looked like his mate, he wanted to hold his wife close and never let her out of his sight again. Not after this.

"When was the last time you knew for a fact that she was with you?" Graham asked, a grim edge to his tone.

"I-I don't know.." Liam went from breathless from exhaustion to breathless from numb astonishment. Blue Eyes was far from feeling numb, he was livid, and Liam's stuttered reply only made it worse.

Before he could check himself, Blue Eyes had grabbed the collar of the man's jacket and had slammed him against the wall. "You were supposed to protect her!" He fumed.

Astrid erupted in low, menacing growls at his assault of her partner, but Blue Eyes could care less. He wouldn't hurt her, he had grown fond of the wolf-like animal, and had no desire for her pain. Though it would be problematic if she decided to attack, Blue Eyes decided he'd deal with her if the situation arose. Right now Liam was the source of his fury, and Blue Eyes' attention remained on aforementioned man.

Liam had been in charge of leading his team. A leader's responsibility was to make sure his team stayed safe. Blue Eyes had entrusted his Rain to Liam's protection and he had failed both him and her. Anger seethed under his fur at the severity of this transgression.

"Blue Eyes, stop!" Malcolm barked.

The prince knew he should really listen to him, after all, he was second in charge here as well as his father in law _and_ the leader of a whole other neighboring colony, Blue Eyes knew he should listen. But how could he? His wife was lost somewhere in this torture facility, the epitome of every human horror story he had ever been told as a child. And it was all this man's fault.

He fought the urge to draw his blood.

"Blue Eyes, stop." Alexander slid himself in beside Liam, so his shoulder was pressing against his arm. Alex grabbed Blue Eyes' bicep with a hand. "This is just as much my fault as it is his. But hurting him won't do anything to help this situation. Rain would tell you that herself if she were here."

"If she were here," Blue Eyes replied through clenched teeth. "He wouldn't be on my hit list."

The simian had learned the term through some human friends he had acquired over the past two years, and he felt it was fit for intimidating this man. Blue Eyes found it comical how humans sometimes still reacted when they seen one of his kind acting so humanoid. It used to irritate him.

"Mister?" A small voice sounded, before Blue Eyes felt a small hand tap against his leg. He looked down to see the little boy, Rain's new brother, staring up at him.

"She'll be okay. I know she will." He murmured, and the hopeful certainty ringing in his voice compelled Blue Eyes to think of his son and daughter waiting for him back home.

Intrigued by the youngster, Blue Eyes unclenched his fists, ignoring the ache in the joints of his fingers from holding on too tight, and knelt down to get to eye level with the boy. He received a bit of a shock when he noticed the band of aqua in the child's brown eyes, and felt a smile and a small huff leave his lips. Leave it to Rain's brother to give it a go at adding his own touch of uniqueness to his irises.

"What's your name?" Blue Eyes murmured softly, his anger pushed aside for the sake of the child. He hoped he hadn't frightened the little one with his outburst. He had been looking forward to creating a good connection with him, and he hoped he hadn't just ruined that chance with his hidden hotheadedness. Blue Eyes knew how he must appear when he lost his temper.

"Leone." The child answered,

"That's a good name. Strong name." He said, genuinely meaning it. He liked the boy's name, and felt a premonition that his sturdy title entailed greatness. Leone didn't seem afraid of him, meeting his eyes easily. That pleased Blue Eyes. The boy smiled happily at the compliment, eyes shining the way only childrens' eyes can shine. Blue Eyes was sure he had been through some very unpleasant things in his short little life, and he respected that he had retained his childish mirth despite the fact.

"Brother is with her now." He said.

Blue Eyes' head quirked. "Who is with who?" At the pronoun used, the light eyed chimp immediately thought of his Bird's name, but how could this boy know if anyone was with her? _But what if he seen who took her?_ Blue Eyes thought. _He or Lana or someone else might know where she was taken to._

There was no other way to find out than to ask.

"Leone, did you see what happened? You know who took her?" He fought to keep most of his insistence and desperation out of his voice, he didn't want the boy to feel pressured and lose the memories.

"I think..." The boy trailed off, his tone suggesting that he was about to state an idea, not trying to answer Blue Eyes' question. The boy's mother approached and crouched behind her small son, her hands going to his shoulders.

"Leo?"

He looked up at her.

"Did you dream?" She asked. His eyes gazed off into a distance, but he nodded mutely.

"Did you know this would happen?" The woman asked.

The boy nodded again. "Brother said."

"What exactly did Brother say?"

Blue Eyes was confused. Who was this person? Whoever he was, Leone had said that he was with Rain. Was he a scientist of some sort? The thought of silver scalpels leaving red streaks down his Rain's beautiful body filled him with fury, but he locked it up inside himself. Another outburst would only cause more delay.

"He said..." Leone trailed off again, seeming to be attempting to recall whatever it was his mother wanted him to. "I had a sister and a brother and a father. They'd come for us. Sister would need help..."

"Anything else, _usdi tsula?"_

Blue Eyed knew it was a Cherokee word, but he didn't know what it meant. He knew that the first word meant 'little' but he was unsure of the last word. Rain would know, though. A pang of impatience and anger struck his chest at the thought of his sweet mate. He didn't like how long all of this was taking, but he felt it would be best to hear this child out. There was something about the way he spoke that told Blue Eyes to shut up and listen.

"Earlier, he said something about blood and a girl who never got a name." The boy looked like there was something more, but he couldn't remember exactly what, like when you walk into a room and forget what you went in there for. Blue Eyes hoped it wouldn't take him too long to figure out what it was.

Lana looked behind her, cocking her head to look up at Graham. "Are there any nameless subjects on this floor?"

He and Leah exchanged a glance. "It's not too unlikely."

"How do we find out?" Alexander asked. Barely a moment after the words left his lips, Blue Eyes jumped at the sound of sirens blaring.

"Attention all personnel." A calm, confident voice said. "Subjects PHP345 and 347 have been reported missing from station. They are likely being assisted by an Elite and two imposter guards. One has been captured. Should you weed out the other two, they are to be brought to the East D level hangar. Attention all personnel..."

"There's your answer." Leah said. "If we go off what he said, if we find a nameless girl, we find Rain. And vice versa."

That didn't make any sense to Blue Eyes, but he had learned to just sit back and listen when it came to human strangeness.

"Can you get us there? How far are we?" Malcolm looked at Graham.

"Just a moment..." The Brit waved a finger through the air, making calculations in his head.

"20 minutes in that direction." Blue Eyes turned at the sound of Liam's voice.

The man met the ape's piercing gaze. "You're right, I was supposed to protect her," he said. "And I failed. I memorized these routes before we even left to come get Malcolm, now I'm going to do everything I can to get her back to you. We both will." He reached down and gave Astrid's ruff a scratch.

Blue Eyes didn't answer right away, searching Liam's countenance. When he found nothing but determination in his brown gaze, the ape nodded. "I apologize if I hurt you."

"I deserved it." Liam waved his hand dismissively. "Now, I think we have an Indian to save."


	10. Chapter 10

**This chapter is dedicated to** **_MusicBooksNoReality_ ** **(of Wattpad) because she's adorable and she's really nice. Also if you like Hetalia check out her stories, they have AWESOME story lines/plots**

* * *

 

Consciousness bid me hello again whilst I was being oh so unceremoniously dragged by my arms down a hall. I licked my lips in an attempt to purge the metallic taste from my mouth, and was surprised to find blood trickling its way down my chin. My head throbbed and my skull felt hot under my hair, and my body was undergoing aches that I had been accustomed to once upon a time. I tried to pick up my feet, but I ended up tripping myself for a few moments before I managed to be able to walk on my own. The two guards who had been dragging me tightened their grips on my arms, and I tried to yank away. I heard the click and hum again, and froze when I seen another stun gun through the corner of my eye.

"Don't struggle ." The man behind the gun grunted.

I turned and met his eyes. His eyes were so dark I couldn't tell his iris from his pupil, and glittered coldly. "Let me go!" I hissed, knowing how futile the words were.

The men scoffed. "Please."

With that, the fourth man, whom I hadn't even seen due to the fact that he walked behind me, jabbed me in the back to try and silence me. That was the moment I decided to throw caution to the wind and made their lives as hard as I could. I wriggled in their grip, dragged my feet on the ground, yanked myself to and fro, and at one point I tried to elbow one of them again. They had steely patience, I'd give them that. They steered me around a corner, and I was presented with another hallway dotted with doors and windows again.

"Who do we put her with?" The man digging his fingertips into the soft flesh of my inner bicep grunted.

"Whitey. She probably won't maul her," the other answered. "Wouldn't want anything to happen to that pretty face." He added with a sneer.

I bit back a comment of my own. Their manhandling was bringing back memories of how I was treated when I lived back in San Francisco. Once I regained my confidence back with the help of the apes who inhabited my home, I swore that I would never let anyone walk over me again. Not without a fight. Now a fire was starting to spark, urging me to fight back against this confinement. But my brain knew that it was ultimately a bad idea. But that stubborn streak from my teen years just wouldn't uproot itself from my spirit.

One guard unlocked and rushed into a room, a second following after him. I heard them bark an order or two, and felt my breath hitch. Were they putting me in a cell with another patient? The sneering man's words from a moment ago came back to me, and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

_Shit._

"Alright!" One of the men called, and it cued the two restraining me to usher me in the room. In no way did I go without a struggle.

My heels dug into the ground, and squealed irksomely as the older males overpowered me in the brute strength department. Once inside the room, I was smothered against a wall, which, let me tell you, pissed me off like no other. I fought to shake my way out, but the man only pushed his body harder against my back, trying to squish my into stillness. The guards spoke to one another for a moment, planning their timing so they could exit the room at the same time without incident. In a rush of wind, the weight smashing me to the cold, white wall, was gone and the door slammed loudly.

The lack of support (no matter how unpleasant it had been) caused me to drop down to my knees, and I immediately whirled around and pressed my back against the wall. My oddball irises scanned the room, searching for whatever was in here with me, and for a moment I thought it was empty. But then, in the opposite corner of the room, was what looked like a girl. She blended in with the white paint perfectly, her hair was whiter than snow, her skin looking almost too pale to wrap around flowing blood.

She was an albino.

But she was also an experiment.

I had no clue what she might be capable of, so caution kicked itself into gear in my head, and I reached to my sides. But my hips were vacant of holsters, my daggers gone. With a sucked in breath, I checked for my bow and quiver, and found them missing as well. Shit. They must have frisked me when I was unconscious. The thought made me shudder. When I was in the middle of devising a plan to protect myself should the lab subject attack, (which consisted of nothing but curling up into a ball and playing dead) the girl decided to speak first.

"W-who are you?" Her voice was meek and tentative, and it was that frail tone that caused me to re-examine her position.

Her hair was long and uncut, lengthy bangs swept to the side of her face in a mostly futile attempt to keep it out of her eyes. She wore a crumpled white long sleeve and some thin looking eggshell colored shorts, both of which blended in with her snowy complexion. She sat on the floor, knees pulled up to her chest, like I was doing. She wore a confused, slightly frightened looking pout. Even her pale pink lips looked like they were dusted with frost.

Nothing about her screamed 'danger' as much as her whole demeanor projected 'fragile'

I blinked, expecting to find some sort of mutation aside from her pigment. But she was showing no signs of a short fuse or animalistic territorial tendencies, at least not yet. Her timidness did nothing to ease the nervousness flowing throughout my bloodstream. But, judging by the thin cot in the corner of the room, I knew I was most likely in her personal living space, and if I were in her position I would sure as hell would want to know who this strange person was.

"I-I'm Rain." I breathed. Lingering adrenaline was still coursing lethargically through my system, causing the slight stutter. "Who are you?"

The girl shook her head. "I-I-..." She swallowed. "I'm...seven."

Her obvious fear of my unknown-ness pulled at my heartstrings, and a sympathetic frown tugged at my lips. But I didn't understand what she was trying to say. "You're seven years old?"

She didn't look seven, if anything, she looked anywhere from fifteen to eighteen, but I could have been wrong. I wondered if maybe her brain was altered, maybe a procedure went a little wrong, but then the girl shook her head. "N-no name. Just seven."

Then it clicked. "You...only have a number? No one named you?"

She shook her head, her knees shifting as she tried to sink deeper into herself. It was then I realized how much she reminded me of my old self. It was for that reason that I held back pity, I hadn't wanted it back then, and I didn't think she would be fond of it either. In her scrunched up position, I couldn't see any obvious physical modifications, so I decided to just stop looking.

"Why are you in here?" She said, her voice trembling so much it was very nearly a whimper.

My third realization of this conversation was that I was still donned in a security guard's attire, and that this whole thing was probably extremely peculiar to her. So that left me with a predicament. Did I tell her the truth or just some off the top of my head lie? What if there were microphones and listening devices wired into the room? I couldn't risk it, though a good part of me felt bad for lying to her. I hated lying.

"Well, I don't know what your point of view was at the time," I said, trying my best at humor during this emotionally frazzled fiasco. "But I was very rudely ushered in and locked inside this room. They can expect a very unsatisfactory Yelp review."

Not my best material, but cut me some slack, I'm stressed out. The girl, I'll call her Seven, didn't laugh. I wouldn't either, to be honest.

"Did you get in trouble?" Seven asked. Her slightly louder tone suggested she was starting to realize I meant her no harm.

"You could definitely say that." I sighed.

I glanced out the window, but was a bit surprised to see it a reflection of the wall in the glass. A two-way mirror. I didn't like that at all. I was stuck in here with an unknown experiment in a room that probably had visual and audio recording devices and I had no way of knowing if my team even knew I was gone yet.

_Wait a moment...!_

I reached up, resting my elbow on my knee to make it look like I was only holding the side of my head in a hand. My fingers probed my hair, and I was ecstatic to feel the com. device still cupping the shell of my ear. I pressed the button and spoke. "Can anyone hear me?"

A loud crackle sounded in my ear, and for one hopeful moment, I expected an answer, but then the device started screeching and I flinched, tearing it off my ear as the painful pinging dug into my brain. I held the little communicator in my palm, looking down at it before pressing the button again, silencing it. The shots from the stun guns must have frazzled the circuits. I sighed, frustrated. How are Blue Eyes and Dad going to find me?

"Who are you talking to?" Seven piped up again.

"No one." I sighed.

"You're not really a guard, are you?"

I looked at her, fighting the urge to bite my lip as I contemplated my next words. She'd figured that part out, no use in lying about it now. So I shook my head. "No, I'm not."

"You're a subject." She said it more as a statement than a question.

"What makes you think that?" I asked, quirking my head at her tone.

"Your eyes." She murmured. "Only subjects have ocular anomalies."

I blinked at Seven's vocabulary choice, and supposed it was either a term she had heard a scientist use, or she was a smart cookie in her own way. My tongue ran along the inside of my teeth as I pondered it for a moment longer before dropping it. My odd eyes scanned her again, and I still couldn't see any reason for her to be here. She seemed like a soft spoken little teenager. The only out of the norm thing I could sense from her was her albinism.

"Why are you here?" I spoke softly.

"What?"

"Why are you in this place? There's nothing wrong with you. Not that I see." I added with a shrug.

Seven seemed stunned, as though she wasn't expecting those to be my next words. I hoped it wasn't because I told her she was normal. She seemed to be, at least from what I had seen. I quirked my head again, softly this time, when she held her stunned silence. I was just about to retract my question when she seemed to snap out of it, though she hesitated a few moments more before answering me.

"I-...I can...see things with my voice..." She trailed off again, awaiting my response.

My brows raised in bewilderment. "What do you mean?"

"Um..." She fidgeted a little, obviously uncomfortable. "C-can I try something?"

Now I was the uncomfortable one. She was about to show me what made her of interest to these mentally twisted seeming scientists. I thought back to some of the things I had seen on the security feed, those frightening to say the least experiments and tests were more than enough the chill the toughest, most stone-hearted people to the bone. But I had opened my mouth and gotten myself into this, now I was going to shut my mouth and see it through. Besides, the girl didn't seem the least bit malicious. So, tentatively, I nodded my head.

The girl breathed in a deep breath, as if trying to inhale self-medicated reassurance before getting up and walking across the room. She was incredibly thin. Seven sat down in front of me, and the close proximity gave me a better view of her features. From across the room, I thought her eyes were blue, but now, I could see that they weren't blue at all. They were purple, lavender to be exact. Her words from a few minutes ago came back to me.

_Only subjects have ocular anomalies._

I pushed it to the back of my mind, seeing Seven was preparing to speak again. "Cover my eyes with your hand." She said, her voice soft.

I raised a brow, hoping for a little insight to her strange request. When she realized what I was silently asking, she said, "it's so you don't think I'm peeking. After you cover my eyes, I want you to hold up some fingers with your other hand and I'll tell you how many."

"Um...okay." I hesitantly complied, reaching out slowly in case she decided to reconsider. But when she held her tongue, I placed my palm gently over her closed lids. I made sure to keep my fingers pressed tightly together, eliminating the chance of leaving space for her to peek out of. With my other hand, I held my index and middle fingers, as well as my thumb.

"Are you holding up a number?" She asked.

"Yes."

Seven's jaw quivered only slightly, and her lips suddenly parted into a small 'O' shape. I didn't hear anything emit from her lips, but a moment later, she spoke again.

"Three."

"How'd you know that?" I gaped, pulling my hand away from her face to study my palm. Had I left any crevices between my fingers open? No, I couldn't have, I was careful to make sure I didn't. My eyes snapped up to meet her light hued irises.

"I told you," she shrugged, looking down at her lap before shuffling back a little to put some more space between us. "My voice."

"I didn't hear anything." I said.

"Well, it's quiet." She tucked her chin into her chest, showing even more prominently that she was a very shy person.

"How do know what something looks like with just your voice?" I asked, stumped.

"I see it in here." She looked up and tapped the middle of her forehead. "Three dimensional."

My brow rose again, an idea forming. "Like-like as in... You see echoes?"

They way she nodded managed to qualify as both vigorous and muted at the same time. Then it hit me. Echolocation. Leah had said that there were many human-animal hybrids here, maybe the nameless Seven was one of those hybrids. Maybe she was part dolphin or something? Her albinism made me think more along the line of bat. Another feature of hers suddenly came to notice in our closer proximity. Her ears were rounded, but they tapered ever so slightly to a more concave shape than what was normal. _Definitely bat_ , I thought.

"You echolocate?" I said, hoping for some sort of confirmation to my theory.

This time around she nodded slowly, almost hesitantly. "They've used that word before."

"That's amazing..." I didn't get time to say anything else, for a click sounded and four guards rushed in, different ones than from the last. I barely had enough time to inhale before they rushed both of us in pairs. They pulled Seven to her feet and quickly pinned her face flat against the wall, the whole time the pale girl stayed silent and let herself be pinned. The other two treated me just the same, the difference was that I was in no way quiet. I made my dislike of this treatment well known, and I turned my head to give a piercing and irate glare to the man in the lab coat who walked in after the pairs of repressors.

"Hello," he said, his accent brisk and distinctly familiar. "My name is Dr. Aldo Zaius. And who, might I ask, are you?"

I held my silence, scanning the man up and down. Something about him struck a bell, and it didn't take me long to come up for a reason. I had the most persistent, annoying of little voices in the back of my head shouting at me through a bullhorn that this man in front of me was Graham's father. The thing that didn't add up, was the name difference. Graham's surname was Casey, but then why did I see such a resemblance in the brunette head of hair (though graying and starting to thin a bit), the curve of his nose, the way the accents were so similar the only reason I could find to explain would be that they were of the same region of Great Britain, maybe even the same household.

There was always the possibility that Graham went by his other parent's surname. It wasn't unheard of, and I hadn't seen Graham speaking in the fondest of manners about his father. So now I was in a pickle. Did I act like I had never heard of his son if it came up? He had to of known Graham was gone, it was a two day trip to get here, (if one made good time) so Graham will have been gone for four days now. None of the three mentioned any alibis for their absences. Liam's I could see going unnoticed for a few days, maybe, but Graham and Leah? Two top notch scientists?

My thought train was rudely interrupted by the older Brit.

"Not feeling very chatty, Cathy?" He said, "take her to my personal exam room. We'll see exactly who she is, and then we'll work on how she managed to get out." He said to the guards.

I bit back the urge to scoff openly at his terrible attempt at word play. The two assholes pinning me to the wall pulled me forward, and one clapped a pair of cold, thick metal cuffs around my wrists, making no attempts to be gentle. I hissed through my teeth as the metal cut into my wrists. Though my hands were now bound in front off me, the men kept a firm, bruising grip on my arms, roughly ushering me through the door. I threw a glance over my shoulder at the albino girl, but she was still being held down against the wall. Once I was on my way down the hall, I heard the pair who had been restraining Seven quickly exit the room and slam the door.

I kept my head down, beginning to recite prayers in my head, revolving between English and Cherokee as I walked. Another thought filtered in as I was promptly herded down the winding, painfully sterile smelling hallways. God I hoped my family were okay.


	11. Chapter 11

Sedatives threw me into a winding, lethargic river of darkness. I despondently floated between consciousness and slumber. Moments of comprehension were fleeting, but I knew my blood had been drawn from my arm, the pinch of a rubber tourniquet, and the annoying prick of the needle were easy to piece together. Although I knew when it was happening, I was groggy and powerless to stop it. All I could do was sit there and whine wordlessly like an upset child, giving out high, keening cries of discomfort. But not even those lasted long, washed away by the starless night of chemicals in my system. Words trickled in between the wake and sleep cycles, though it was hard to pick out the words at times, the sedatives leaving even my cognitive skills mushy and next to useless.

"...not in the system.."

"...genetic...DNA..."

"...scanned...no data..."

"...familiar?"

I couldn't hang onto full sentences, each one fell away from me like pearls from a string. I was too out of it to even be annoyed at myself. All I knew was that I wanted to wake up. I wanted to wake up in my hammock with Blue Eyes snoring beside me and my twins stirring in their own hammocks. I wanted all of this to be a bad dream. But of course, given the lack of available stars as well as my inability to open my eyes, I had nothing to wish on. I fell inside the black once more, and had no way to tell how much time had passed. Though I was relatively sure I was dreaming when I saw an octopus with its long, dexterous tentacles wrapped around a big Galapagos tortoise's shell, which seemed to have strawberries duct taped to its gargantuan telltale shell.

When the sedation finally started wearing off, I found myself in a hospital bed. I looked around, sitting up slightly. A cool air drifted in the atmosphere, and at the goosebumps that arose from the colder temperature, I looked down to see my clothes were completely different. Whoever changed them, I didn't want to know, for the notions that ran through my head made me shudder. I wore a white tank top, and with a lift of the scratchy blankets, I found I was also wearing a pair of thin, papery feeling sweatpants. I sat up a little more, hugging my arms and rubbing my biceps to try to generate extra heat through friction.

I wasn't hooked up to any machines, thank god, but there was no lack of machines and other metallic instruments. My heart beat picked up, and I felt my breath begin feel labored as I looked around and seen the various tools and objects I knew the uses for all too well. The strongly alcoholic smelling liquid bottles told me that they were being either prepared for use, or were being cleaned from previous use. My mouth went dry, and I ran my tongue over my lips. A shaky breath raked through my body. I had to get out of here. But right as I went to flip the blanket off of my legs, a man walked in through the door I hadn't noticed. He wore a lab coat, and a black beanie that was a bit too small for him, in all honesty I thought it looked a bit like an oversized Yakama. The man also wheeled a silvery cart behind him. He had dark stubble thickly covering his jaw and cheeks. He didn't look that old but his age was much harder to pinpoint under all that hair.

"Hey, Jane Doe. Welcome to the un-doped up world." He smiled, his voice youthful.

"Where am I? Who are you?" I backed up against the crap quality pillows, recoiling as far as I could from this stranger.

"Calm down. My name is Milo Maximus. People call me either Dr. Milo or Dr. Max, take your pick. You're in the East wing, I was sent to get you prepped for surgery." He smiled at me again. "Don't worry, I'm the best anesthetist OSIRIS has left. This'll be easy, no problems."

"Surgery? No, no, what kind of surgery?" I gaped, before my eyes narrowed. "You stay the hell away from me."

He gave a bit of a cringe. "You've got yourself in a real mess, huh Janie girl? No one knows who the hell you are, or where you came from. You know, you look a helluva lot like a favorite patient of mine. _That_ is what stumps me."

Dr. Milo came forward and crouched by the foot of the bed, squinting at me. "So, you gonna tell me your name or are you gonna make me keep calling you Jane Doe?"

I shied away from him, my only reply a disdainful frown.

"I'll take that as a no then. You don't really seem like much of a talker, you seem like one of those more verbally reserved girls. Am I right or..?" He quirked his head at the last part. I held my silence.

He sighed. "Okay, don't say anything. You seem like a nice girl, even if you're scared, and I don't want anything to happen to you. But you got yourself into this, and I don't know what you'll be like when you get out of it, so I'm gonna make your last moments as yourself as easy as possible.  
Just cooperate and everything will be fine."

I bit the inside of my lip. He didn't seem like the other people here, he seemed out of place here.  
His demeanor was loose, and he seemed to be sincere with his words, but he was still of OSIRIS, and I couldn't trust him, no matter how well intending he might seem. Cooperate, my ass.

Dr. Max moved forward, pulling the cart with him. My hands shot out and anchored to the bed beneath me, my legs pulling up to my chest. "Stay away!" I snapped.

"Don't worry, it's not gonna hurt." He said. "Is this your first operation?"

"Don't touch me!" I yelled when he moved to the head of the bed, a bulky oxygen mask in hand.

"Hey! Come on, this isn't helping anyone." He replied, reaching for my hands.

"No! Stop it! Get away!" I screamed, struggling in his grip. I wriggled and tried to kick out, but I was horrified to find that my feet were tied down with leather bounds, long enough and padded around the ankle cuffs to go unnoticed up until now.

"Hey! Janie, quit it!" He grunted, reaching to get both my wrists clenched tightly into his fist. "You're forcing me to do this!"

"Blue! Help!" Was the last shout I could get out before Dr. Max slapped the clunky mask over my face, and pinned my hands over my head. I sucked in a breath and held it, struggling ruthlessly. The bearded man shushed me, trying to soothe me.

"Just breathe, everything will be fine." He said, trying not to pant from the sudden outburst of activity. I couldn't answer aloud, so I lifted my right middle finger toward him.

"Come on, I know you're scared but fighting it is bad for you." He sighed at the sight. Then he seemed to quirk up with a frown, as if receiving a thought. "How long can you hold your breath?"

I didn't answer.

"Shit," he sighed. "I hate doing this. Why are making me do this? Okay, you forced my hand."

I didn't get any time to feel confused, before the man placed his hand right on my belly and pressed down. It got increasingly hard not to exhale, but then he pushed down harder, hard enough to make me gasp, hard enough to hurt. Before I gasped though, all the air was blown, or should I say _pushed_ , right out of my body. But I did make the mistake of inhaling again, and once I started, I knew it was futile to stop again. So I decided to keep my breath and use it to get away. So, I started screaming again, shaking around and fighting hard enough to bruise my own skin to try to get away from his grip.

But I was thrashing too much and I needed too much oxygen and I was breathing in too much anesthesia. I could feel it starting to take over me, my movements starting to become jerky and erratic, my brain became foggy. It was as if I was a pane of glass someone fogged up with their breath, but the fog wouldn't clear with air exposure. It was like frost creeping its way over a window, getting thicker and thicker as the temperature continued to drop. It was getting harder and harder to move, harder to force myself to strain against my binds. But those binds weren't even human anymore, my arms had fallen to my sides and I was still fighting to stay awake. My eyelids drooped heavily enough that I felt the feather-light tickle of my lashes on my cheeks. My body was betraying me and I wanted to cry fat, hot tears of frustration, but I couldn't even do that.

_Fuck..._ The last lethargic, coherent thought I could manage before I felt myself slipping away.

I was already gone, and the last thing I heard was the bang of a door slamming open before the stalking predator of blackness pounced, and swamped my mind in darkness.

* * *

 

_A few minutes earlier_

Scraps of a voice traveled through the wall in the form of an echo, and at Malcolm's call, they halted. The sound caused the fur on Blue Eyes' shoulders and neck to stand on end. Something about it alarmed him. It was how familiar the voice had been, and how defensive it sounded.

"It was her." Blue Eyes murmured, and in the silence that ensued as the rest of the rescue team waited for another sound, they turned to look at him.

"Are you sure?" Graham said. "It could have been some other subject, these walls can distort-"

"I know her voice." He stopped himself just short of a hiss, but he couldn't keep the intensity out of his tone. "It was her."

"It came from further down this way..." Leah muttered.

"Then let's go." Alexander said grimly, exchanging a glance with the ape heir. The group got moving again, and within minutes, another call was heard, closer, louder, audible.

"No! Stop it! Get away!"

"Rain!" Blue Eyes, Alexander, and the majority of the group all gasped at the same time. A moment of stillness marked the calm before the storm before they all scrambled to find the nearest exit. Graham and Malcolm forced them to stop and wait to check for any OSIRIS personnel before entering once they found one, much to Blue Eyes' annoyance. He understood rationality was severely important, but his Rain needed him and it was all he could do to not openly fidget from foot to foot like a child as the sensation of ants crawled under his fur. He _needed_ to get to his wife.

His instincts hadn't stopped screaming at him for a moment, but in the very back of his mind he was proud of how well he was keeping himself in check. He'd gotten good at that very quickly after he'd met Rain, and it was a good thing too, because he knew that things would probably have been really awkward between them if he hadn't learned how to control himself, what with when he was not being used to the effect Rain had on him, especially its suddenness and potency from when they'd fresh met. There had been a bit of a...tension, between the two of them at first, neither really knowing how to feel about the other, but luckily it quickly turned into friendship, and then, much to Blue Eyes' elation, into much more.

The scarred ape knew that women in a way that no one else did. He knew all the mannerisms she had, he knew every faint, nearly invisible scar that lined her skin, her only physical token of her past. He knew every contour and curve of her body, knew all her tastes and laughs and smiles. The simian prince knew her favorite things to eat, the trail ride routes she liked best, every underlying sentence left for discovery under her lashes. He knew where she had worked for money when she was younger, still city rooted, and he knew exactly how she had gotten each and every one of the marks on her body.

Physical and material things weren't the only thing he'd gained knowledge of, though he could easily map out all the details of her body with his eyes closed. He knew just how damaged she had really been when she first came to the forest, and he had to say, she'd been holding herself up well. The girl's self image and self esteem had been so low for so long that a good part of her had thought that it was normal for her to be singled out and abused. But, luckily, with Ash's help and a few others, Blue Eyes had managed to change that. Everyday he made sure to let her know how beautiful she was, how breathtaking she was to him as a person, and while it made her smile and her eyes twinkle beautifully with happiness, he knew she was too modest to really believe him. That didn't stop him from keeping it up.

The exit they'd found was inside a storage room of some sort, and with a few uttered words from Leah, Blue Eyes found that this was where subjects' original belongings were kept. The room was full of shelves and categorical sticky-labels. As they waited for the all clear from Malcolm, Blue Eyes' glacial irises scanned the shelves listlessly, hating the waiting from deep in his belly. It was only a moment after the thought came to him, when he picked up a scent. Just as he recognized it, Astrid started growling quietly. Liam turned to the dog, asking her what she'd found. Blue Eyes already knew what she'd found. The same thing as him. His namesake orbs pinpointed and locked on to the source of the familiar smell. On a shelf just below eye level, was a short, slender piece of wood and string, beside it a long, leather pouch with a hole punched sash attached. Both lay on top of a t-shirt, jacket and jeans, beside a pair of worn boots.

Rain's clothes and archery set.

The chimp's blood ran cold and then simmering hot in a single second. His wife was somewhere in this place, without her weapons, and without her clothes. He knew she would never take off her clothes in a place like this, she would never take them off unless she was in a place of comfort and safety. These walls fit none of those criteria. So that meant that Rain didn't willingly remove them. Blue Eyes' jaw clenched tightly to keep the anger rising up in his chest contained at the thought of someone's hands anywhere on his mate's body.

And she was without any way to protect herself.

With stiff limbs, he grabbed the contents from the shelf, showing his findings to the team. He didn't dare say anything aloud, not trusting himself not to express his anger. He didn't need to risk scaring them again, especially the boy.

"This is Rain's stuff. They took her bow." Alex said, brows raising at the unexpected discovery.

"And her clothes." Malcolm growled.

Lana reached out, silently asking for the things, and the ape handed them to her without a word. Blue Eyes felt a tug on his clenched fist, and looked down, his first instinct taking him to his two small children, but the child he saw when he looked down was not his. It was his nephew.

"We have to go now." The boy said urgently, still tugging on the ape's wrist. "Please."

"Okay, okay." Blue Eyes was able to keep his emotions out of his voice. He managed to unclench his fist and lay his hand on top of the boy's head in an attempt to offer solace for his anxiety.

"Is it clear yet?" Blue Eyes asked, wanting to get moving just as much as the boy did.

Graham took another peek outside the door. Blue Eyes gave a relieved huff when the accented man nodded. "Yes. It is."

"Blue! Help!" The scream tore down the hall, ripped inside the a-jarred door.

The group jumped into action, Blue Eyes somehow getting himself to the front of the group. Veering to the right, they barreled down the hall in pursuit of the voice. Down on his hands and knuckles, Blue Eyes propelled himself over the smooth, traction-less tiles. His fur was bristling and his fangs were fighting to lift his lips. The sound of Rain's terrified call echoed in his brain. She was afraid. Someone was doing something to her. She was being _hurt_ , and she had called for him.

The anger coursed through his body, fueling him to get to his mate. But this place was full of nothing but stark whiteness and everything smelled the same, scents overpowered by that infuriating alcohol smell. They came to a fork in the hallway, and the ape skidded to a halt and got back on his feet, unsure of which way to go. A moment later, the group caught up with him, panting and without their bearings.

"Which way?" Blue Eyes growled, his light hues switching from left to right to straight ahead.

"It's that way! It's that way!" Leone's voice whined imperatively. When Blue Eyes turned, he saw the child kicking his legs urgently in his mother's arms, pointing down the right hallway.

The group exchanged glances, no one knowing what to do. Believe the child and hope he's somehow correct or go off a random decision and see where that takes them? Blue Eyes clenched his teeth and his fingers tightly. He didn't have time for this, he had to get to Rain!

"If Leo says she's that way, then she's that way." Lana said, giving no one any time to reply before she darted down in the direction her son had pointed them in. Too impatient to wait and think of another plan, Blue Eyes dashed after the woman.

He heard the hard footfalls of the human team running after them. The hall was filled with doors, but it wasn't barren of humans. Two guards had been walking down the hallway, likely on patrol, and when they seen the strange group barreling down towards them, they scrambled to get their hands on their guns. A growl left the ape's throat, feeling extremely annoyed at all of these inconveniences. As the two men cocked their weapons, Blue Eyes pushed his knuckles into the ground harder, using his arms to propel himself faster towards them. When he was close enough, he flung himself into the air and aimed for the guards. His palms slammed into each of their heads and he brought them down with him, rolling with the impact and using their skulls as cushions.

The collision knocked the two out, and Blue Eyes was on his feet again, running beside the rest of the team. Alexander puffed out a smirking praise between breathes. Blue Eyes didn't answer, appreciating his brother's words but in no mood to return any friendly banter, not until his Rain was back by his side.

"That door, that door!" Leone shouted.

Liam sprinted to get to the head of the group, and once he confirmed the door, the OSIRIS traitor swiped his badge and kicked the door open, the action reminding Blue Eyes for a moment of the time he had watched Rain's brother Dax kick down a door to gain access to the dam, years ago. The prince pushed the thought aside, now wasn't the time for nostalgia.

Somehow, Malcolm managed to get past all of them and was the first inside. Blue Eyes slipped in after him to see the older man take a strange human male by the shirt and punch him right in the jaw. A loud, muted smack sounded from the collision of Malcolm's fist to the man's face. Lana then darted in, Leone gone from her arms, and got between the man and Malcolm.

"Wait, wait, don't! He's a friend. He's not gonna hurt anyone!" She panted.

Blue Eyes stopped paying attention, he knew that Malcolm had the threat taken care of, and turned to the bed sitting in the room. Laying under white covers was the most beautiful creature ever to grace Blue Eyes with her presence. But a bulky, turquoise green and white mask-like object covered most of her face, and he frowned at the sight. Graham and Alexander joined him at her side as Blue Eyes lifted the mask away, his wife sleeping underneath. The ape's eyes narrowed. Just a minute ago he had heard her screaming his name in terror, how could she be asleep now? He knew it had something to do with the mask on her face, and he knew that the man facing Malcolm's wrath was the reason it was there.

"She's been anesthetized." Graham muttered.

Lana's voice piped up at the sound of that. "Why'd you put her to sleep? What are they gonna do with her?"

"She was put in for corrective procedures, that's all I know." The man answered. "Who is she? Who're the rest of them?"

"You mean alteration surgery." Alexander snapped before anyone could say anything more.

Lana held a hand for Alexander's silence as she sighed. "She's my daughter."

_"That's_ the girl you told me about?" The man gapped, then scoffed. "I shoulda known. She's just like you."

Lana dismissed him, and Blue Eyes felt a seedling of confusion bloom. The stranger had heard of Rain before?

Graham chose that moment to butt in, up until this moment the bespectacled man had been shuffling around the room, looking for things. "Exactly how much anesthesia did you give her?"

"Somehow enough. The chick just wouldn't cooperate, she held her breath, wouldn't breathe in the anesthesia. I had to force her to breathe it with force."

A growled forced its way through Blue Eyes' clenched canines before he could do anything to gulp it down. His eyes found the stranger's, and he fit his most intense, most piercing gaze on the man. The ape only got one step in toward him before Alexander was behind him, squeezing his shoulders.

"Don't." The young man murmured. "You can kick his ass later, now's not the time." The chimp rotated his jaw once, clenching his fists hard enough to crack his knuckles. But he backed down, and placed his hands on the rail beside the bed.

To distract himself from everything that pissed him off, Blue Eyes focused his gaze back on Rain. Her hair was disheveled and free from the hair band that had been holding up her hair. Her lips were pouting, and he noticed her lashes were gleaming with unshed tears in the bright lighting. He sighed at the sight, leaning down and resting his head on an arm as he reached out to stroke her hair, indulging in the fact that his mate was close again, though he wished he could have her in his arms.

"You didn't answer my question." Graham snipped, tapping a syringe to a glass bottle.

The man answered his question before adding, "why?"

"I need to know so I give her the right amount of Ritalin." The Brit answered.

"Ritalin? But that's still only experimental." Leah said softly, worry smoothing over the edges of her voice.

"Everyone reacts differently. If my calculations are correct, it shouldn't take all that much to wake her up again." The man poked the top of an upturned bottle, and the glass cylinder filled with a clear liquid. "She'll be up-and-at-'em in no time. It should be just like an adrenaline shot to her brain."

"Should?" Blue Eyes echoed, fighting not to bristle again. He didn't like anything about this situation.

"How experimental is it? What have you tested it on?" Alexander asked.

"It's been tested on rats and a few primate species here." Graham said, ripping open a small square packet while holding the syringe in his other fingers. A fresh bloom of strong alcohol scent filled the air, and Blue Eyes' nose twitched at the stinging smell. He took out a small, square shaped cloth, soaked in some sort of alcohol. He straightened out Rain's bare arm and started tapping for a vein. It was then that Blue Eyes noticed what she was wearing. He was unsure of what she was wearing over her legs, but her torso was fitted with a white tank top, much like the ones she wore at home.

After wiping her skin, Graham injected the needle into Rain's skin, and pushed the liquid into her body. Blue Eyes' grip on the railing tightened, hating the sight, never minding the fact that he knew it was meant to help. All throughout his childhood he had heard and eavesdropped on many human horror stories of apes being stuck with needles and then feeling terribly sick or unable to breathe or unable to stop their hearts from beating out of their chests. He'd also heard stories of apes being forced to breathe in chemicals with masks and tubes like the one that had been on Rain's face.

He wanted her out of this place. Right now.

"Graham. You need to see this."

The scarred ape's attention turned to Leah, who stood in front of one of the many machines in the room. He vaguely recognized it as a computer, having seen a few laptops from human visitors in the village. Leah was staring at it, and Blue Eyes found he was unable to deduce her countenance, but he knew whatever she was seeing, it wasn't good. That expression caused his fur to begin to bristle.

"They took some of her blood. These are the results." Leah continued speaking. Graham hadn't moved, he'd been disposing of the needle and was now standing frozen, his gaze on the computer. "Come here. _Now_." She snapped, her voice suddenly hard.

The British man snapped out of his immobility and quickly crossed the floor to the blond woman's side. Blue Eyes glanced down at Rain, but she showed no signs of stirring. Yet. He kept a hand woven into her hair, massaging her skull to try and remedy any anxieties she might have at waking up in a strange place. He turned back to the two scientists, watching whatever played out without ceasing his ministrations.

Graham scanned the screen, and suddenly, his whole body stiffened to the point where Blue Eyes wondered if he'd fall down. "Oh my god..."

"What?" Malcolm asked.

"Do you think the blood was contaminated?" Leah asked the Brit, ignoring everyone else.

"No." Graham shook his head. "Zaius would never allow such a mistake to take place in his facility."

"But it makes no sense. How could this be correct? That girl has never stepped foot in this place before!" Leah hissed.

"Tell us what it says, dammit!" Lana suddenly snapped. "Don't talk about it as if we're not here."

The two scientists exchanged a glance. Graham's Adam's Apple bobbed once before he spoke again. "She... This test is saying that Rain is not purely human."

**I have no clue how this kind of anesthesia works, I've only ever experienced the kind that numbs an area of the body, not the one that puts you to sleep. Forgive me if I got something wrong. I hope you liked it, I'll get the next one out as soon as I can. :)**


	12. Chapter 12

"...what the fuck are you talking about?" Lana gaped.

Graham fixed Lana with an intense gaze. "Is there anything you'd like to say, Ms. Harley?"

"What do you mean?" The native woman asked, taking a step back. Blue Eyes narrowed his eyes, recognizing her nervousness.

"These last two years..." He trailed off, pushing his glasses up his nose. "They are not your first years here, are they?"

Blue Eyes watched the woman, her body language screaming flight or fight. But the ape was momentarily distracted when the young woman under his fingers started to shift. He looked down at her, his gaze anticipating the moment he got to see the galaxies in her eyes again. As the thought left his mind, her dark lashes fluttered a moment before lifting to reveal to the clearest blue gaze the chimp had ever seen.

"Rain..." He murmured for her attention when her eyes widened, begin to fill with confusion and fright.

Her beautiful irises flitted to him, and the girl gasped. "Blue Eyes!"

Before he could do anything, she had sat up and flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck with a cry of relief. Immediately, the light eyed prince returned to hug, crushing her as tightly as he dared to his chest through the bedrail that separated their lower torsos from touching. "I am never leaving your side again!" The woman gasped into his nape.

Once again, before Blue Eyes could react, Rain had pulled back and crushed her lips to his. And, like the last time, Blue Eyes was not hesitant to reciprocate. Sadly, the kiss didn't last long before she pulled away and hugged him again, tucking her head under his chin. Blue Eyes could feel her trembling in his arms, and he pulled back to look her over, a worried frown on his face.

_"Are you okay?"_ He signed, holding her chin in his fingers so she'd stay still.

"As long as you don't let go of me I'm fine." She sounded a little breathless, and it elevated Blue Eyes' worry. Graham had said everyone reacted differently to the chemical, and the ape found himself hoping this wasn't a bad reaction.

"Raina?" A voice shook as it called out his mate's name.

The girl turned, and stiffened in his arms at the sight of her older look-alike. "...Mother?"

Rain sucked in a trembling gasp, and she through the blanket off her torso. Blue Eyes felt a pump of anger shoot through him at the sight of her tethered feet. Rain didn't even need to say a thing before Blue Eyes snapped the bonds in his hands, tearing it away. In her hastiness to get to the other woman, Rain almost fell down as she scrambled off the bed, and Blue Eyes caught her and steadied her in his arms. But he sent her on her way when he felt she could walk on her own. Lana crossed the rooms and was bundling her daughter up into her arms with a cry of raw emotion. They squeezed their bodies so close to one another Blue Eyes wondered if it was painful. He heard someone sniff, but he wasn't sure which of the two had been the source.

"I thought you were dead!" He heard the shudder in Rain's voice. His heart thudded with sympathy for his mate, he knew how hard this must be for her. He remembered when he had thought Caesar was dead from an anonymous gunshot wound, and even though it had only been for a brief time, the pain that had possessed his entire being like a demon had been almost physically excruciating. He could only imagine how Rain had felt for the past two years, though she had buried her pain deep down inside herself.

Lana babbled out something in Cherokee before reverting back to the common tongue. "My Rain I'm so sorry!"

The older native pulled back, but she held her daughter close. "Oh my god, look at you! You grew up." She wore a watery smile as she scanned her daughter's form.

"Have you been eating correctly?" She started firing off questions, her motherly instincts popping out as she investigated her daughter's health.

"Mom, mom, mom." Rain kept repeating, trying to get her mother's attention. "What's going on? I heard someone say my name. What's happening right now?"

Blue Eyes wasn't taken by surprise too much by her question. She'd probably started waking up right around when Graham had spoken his obviously incorrect sentence, and Blue Eyes wouldn't have put it past her to not catch it. On a side note he had to admit that he was surprised by Rain's lack of grogginess though.

"Alana."

The room went quiet when Malcolm spoke the name, and Blue Eyes deducted it to Lana's full name.

"You don't think..." The man trailed off, gazing at the shorter woman with a guarded curiously worried look. The countenance made Blue Eyes uneasy. Lana didn't answer, only held the man's gaze, her face turned away from Blue Eyes, so he couldn't see her expression. Her silence only inflated the suspicion that there was more going on here than he would probably be able to guess.

"Do you?" Malcolm raised his brows at her.

A moment of hesitation passed by before Lana nodded. "Yeah, I do."

The way she said it confirmed in stone that something was definitely very wrong. And what about Graham had said? Blue Eyes knew human technology was strange and advanced, and Rain had informed him a while ago that they could find out many things about a person or thing just by putting a little bit of blood inside of a machine. That didn't completely add up to him, but Rain and Alexander had assured him that it worked. Now he was wondering how much those machines malfunctioned. Graham said that from Rain's blood, the machine had said that she wasn't entirely human. That had to be wrong.

She looked human, she smelt human, she spoke like a human. So she was human. Right?

The machine had to be wrong. Blue Eyes knew it was wrong. He inwardly snorted, thinking about how their beloved technology wasn't as perfect as humans liked to believe.

_"Etsi?"_ Rain said, her head quirking in confusion. Blue Eyes knew the word meant _mother,_ as their son and daughter called Rain by that name from time to time.

"She's old enough now." Malcolm said softly, and Blue Eyes seen the way Lana stiffened at the chief's words.

Movement out of the corner of his eye caught the ape's attention, and he seen young Leone crouching with his back pressed against the wall, hugging his knees with his arms. The small boy glanced in his direction, feeling his gaze. Blue Eyes beckoned the child to him with a hand, and the boy got up and made his way silently over, hugging Blue Eyes' leg. The prince put a hand on the boy's nape to try to keep him calm as they watched the scene play out.

Malcolm's words had brought him back to another time, when he had watched another scene with a similar setting. It had been when Malcolm had confessed his relation to Rain and Alexander. Blue Eyes had a big feeling that something of the like was about to happen. He had a second sinking suspicion that Graham already had a good idea of what it was, what with the way he almost glared at Lana with a burning gaze. The ape's fur began to prickle in anticipation of the on-coming bomb that was about to be dropped.

"Mother?" Rain's soft tone called out, and from her tone and body language Blue Eyes was able to see how worried and even a little frightened she was. He hated that look, but he knew that there was nothing he could do about it. Lana's eyes shifted to her daughter's, and after a few moments of pensive hesitation, she gave a sigh, the kind that you put your whole lung capacity into, the kind that makes your shoulders sag hard.

"Answer the question, Lana." Graham's accented voice was hard, interrogatory. It was the kind of tone used by males to scare adolescents into admitting their misdeeds. But then it softened with his next words, into an almost begging murmur. "Please don't lie."

The woman in question's eyes flicked to the scientist's before reverting to her feet. She gave the slightest shake of her head. "I don't lie."

Then she looked back to her daughter and spoke. "This is not my first time in this building. The first time I was here I was twenty one years old and I was pregnant with you."

* * *

 

My blood skidded it's circulation to a halt inside of my veins at the sound of my mother's confession. My head was throbbing faintly, I assumed from either stress or the anesthesia. I was still trying to figure out why I was so awake so quickly, much of the time it took hours for a patient to shake the groggy aftermath of anesthesia. But I pushed the irrelevant thought aside, knowing it was unimportant right now. Confusion throbbed with my pulse against my skull, trying to make conclusions out of connecting cloud-blocked constellations.

"What?" I said, unable to think of anything better to say.

Mom's shoulders drooped in just the slightest manner, and if I hadn't been raised around her mannerisms I wouldn't have even noticed it. "Dax was turning three years old soon, when I was kidnapped. It only took maybe a week for Malcolm and your uncles to find me. But by that time, the people here had already...done things to me. Put chemicals and serums into my body."

The look that overcame my mother's face threatened to break my heart. She was fighting back pain and saltwater and inner once-dormant demons all at once behind her eyes. "I didn't know I had you inside me until I was in the middle of a procedure. And afterwards I thought you were dead. I thought the things they were putting in me were going to kill you. When I got out, and I felt you kicking-" the woman paused to regain herself, her hand holding her mouth as she wrangled back and swallowed her emotions as best she could. My chest ached to see her like this.

"I-I thought it was phantafetal-movement. I thought I'd lost you before I had you. I was stupid, I never went to a doctor because I was too afraid to be openly told that my baby was dead. So I carried you, and after you were delivered, you were so quiet. The doctors took you away from me." She trailed off before she could start her next sentence, looking like someone had lashed her with a thorny branch. "I asked a nurse for a time of death, thinking that maybe you'd been alive and had only not survived the delivery, but she said, 'what are you talking about? Your baby is alive'... After that I didn't get to hold you until you were two days old.

"I should have told you. I know I should have told you about all of this, and baby I'm sorry. Every time you asked about your eyes... I wanted to tell you when you were older, when I was sure you'd be mature enough to process this and handle this. But not like this. I was getting ready to, I meant to tell you when things weren't so hard for you back home. But I never got the chance." She apologized again in Cherokee, but she didn't try to approach me.

I just stood there, stunned.

What was I supposed to think about this? This was Malcolm's revelation all over again. I had no idea what to do. I felt totally blindsided, light headed, and I wondered if my breathing was labored or not, I couldn't focus enough to find out. I must have been swaying, because a moment later Blue Eyes' hands were holding me up. I took the opportunity to lean against his strength, grateful for his assistance. I lightly tucked myself into him, grabbing a hand for extra reassurance through physical contact. Blue Eyes gave a soft, inquisitive hoot, asking if I was alright. I gave a small hum-imp and squeezed his hand lightly to let him know I was okay. In all honesty I didn't know if I was right now. The only thing I had been aware of was that I'd been taken at birth and incubated due to my size.

"Mom, what are you saying?" My voice shook, so I cleared my throat and tried to keep a leveled demeanor. You can imagine how I failed. "What's happening right now?"

I wondered how much time we had left, surely I should have been carted off to surgery by now. How long would they wait before sending someone to go check on what was going on? Or come see for themselves? But my mind didn't dwell on that for very long, and my focus was reverted back to awaiting my mother's next words.

"Did-did you hear what Mr. Casey said? Were you awake?" She asked me, glancing at Blue Eyes. I inwardly sighed, her glance reminding me of something I wasn't particularly looking foreword to explaining to her. I knew that my mother would like Blue Eyes once she got to know him, and I was positive she and Cornelia were like two sides of the same coin, but Mom didn't know that yet. I mentally shook the thought train away, I could worry about that later, my mother had asked me a question.

"No." I replied. The world had come back to me slowly and in a flash all at once. The first thing I cognitively recognized had been Blue Eyes' handsome form. And I'd been so overwhelmed with gratitude for his presence that in that moment I hadn't wanted to think about being anywhere away from him. But then I'd seen my mother, alive and breathing and calling my name after all these days believing her dead and gone from the world, and I hadn't been able to get to her quicker. But I didn't recall hearing anyone speak.

Mom looked to Graham, and he and Leah exchanged a glance. Leah turned to me, her gaze an odd tint of guarded sympathy. "Do you remember what happened when you were captured? Do you know if they drew blood?"

My lashes fluttered down to shield my gaze as I absentmindedly focused on the tiles under my feet while I tried to recall. "Someone sedated me. I kept nodding in and out." I started nodding my head as memories came back. "I felt a tourniquet-"

I'd been subconsciously trailing my hand down the arm I'd felt the rubber synch around my skin, and paused when I felt something in the inside crook of my elbow. I stretched out the arm and noticed the cotton ball taped to my arm. "I guess that confirms it." I nodded to the cotton ball before I pulled the tape off. There was no mark on my arm but my skin tingled for a moment at the sensation of the tape detaching from my arm.

"Why do you ask?" I said, rolling the tape around the fibrous ball.

The scientists hesitated, and the room seemed to hold its breath. I was growing more and more uneasy and uncomfortable as the seconds ticked by, but luckily, it didn't last too long. Graham spoke. "The results of that test are here," he gestured to the computer screen he and Leah stood beside.

But Graham didn't seem to intend to say anymore, so Leah took over the next sentences. "It's saying that..." She trailed off, glancing at Graham, then Lana.

A sense of foreboding loomed over me, and I leaned into Blue Eyes, needing to feel the reassurance in his warmth.

"...you're not completely human."

My head quirked slightly at the sound. That was certainly not what I was expecting. I hadn't known what to expect, but it sure as hell hadn't been that. The first thought that came to me was that there had to be some sort of mistake.

"...what?" I said, giving a little shake of my head. "That-that's gotta be wrong. Look at me, I'm human."

"That's not what we're saying." Graham said. "You are human, but...not all of your genetic makeup is human."

Confusion fluttered around in my head like butterflies, flashing colors of bewilderment. "What does that mean?" I was surprised at how calm my voice was.

"You heard Lana say that she was here before," the British man gestured to my mother. "I've read her file, and she was selected as a candidate for Project Post Human. I told you a little about that. The way we create them is by altering the genes and DNA in which they're created. OSIRIS alters the parent bodies, and then inseminates them. The offspring are more or less Post-human, depending on individual results. OSIRIS has been working on this for generations, and it is nearing perfection.

"But, you see, when Lana was altered, she was in early enough stages of pregnancy that those alterations were passed hereditarily to you."

"What do you mean alterations?" I cut in, noticing he'd mentioned it more than once.

Leah, who had been previously messing around with the computer during Graham's explanation, decided to butt in there. "That's what I'm finding out right now."

Only a minute must have ticked by, but it felt like an hour, the clicks of the keyboard serving as the ticking of a clock's hands. Blue Eyes squeezed my hand and I glanced at him. He whispered in my ear, pointing out that my lip hadn't don't anything wrong. At first I didn't know what he meant, but then I realized that I'd been mercilessly gnawing on my lower lip. I stopped, but barely two seconds passed before I started nibbling on the inside of my lip. I couldn't help it, I was stressed and that was how I vented.

Leah's clicking suddenly paused, and in the silence of the foreboding suspense, I could audibly hear her astonished mutter of, "oh my god...!"

"What?" Alexander asked.

But Leah didn't answer him. Her head whipped up to look at me, jaw drooping. "You've gotta be kidding me..."

"Why're you looking at me like that?" I asked, head turning to the slide slightly. By now Graham had looked over her shoulder. Just like she had, he looked back at me with a shocked countenance, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"Damn it, stop staring at me like that!" I whined, recoiling under their gazes into Blue Eyes.

"Graham Casey, you tell me what they did to them." Malcolm suddenly growled, striding to stand beside Lana. The woman looked up at him with parted lips, and it was then I seen that she was touched at the emotion in Malcolm's voice. She still felt something for my father. I pushed the thought away, I could be happy about it later.

Graham licked his lips. "It shows that chimpanzee and bonobo DNA was hidden behind Lana's chromosomes. Which she passed on to you."

If I'd thought the room was silent before, then this must have been what it was like to be deaf. The silence was interrupted by a mumbled voice, and the whole room turned to look at Alexander, who'd been the source of the voice. When he realized the spotlight was on him, he repeated himself, louder, "is that how we got Sage and Riv?"

My breath hitched at the mention of my beautiful little babies, and a pang of pain thumped at my chest when I realized how much I missed them. River's ever-endearing curiosity, Sage's heart-tripping smile, their voices merging in a mellifluous melody as they spoke in twin stereo.

"What?" Liam's voice shook me from my thoughts, an incredulously exasperated undertone to his breathily spoken words, as if he couldn't believe that was the first thing someone thought to say.

"Mom..." My voice faltered and I trailed off. "Why didn't you tell me? Did you know about this?" I tried to hide it, but the hurt in my voice was clear as day.

I seen her swallow, and I seen pain glint in her earthen irises. "I knew they did something. I didn't find out what it was until I was taken again. Baby, I know I should have told you about what happened here, but you were too young and I didn't want to scare you, and then people started getting sick...I had to worry about keeping your brother and you alive while buildings burned around us after we got to Es Ef. And then when that settled I had to worry about your mental state because I was terrified of finding scars on your wrists, and then Dax was hurt in that explosion. It was just one thing after another. Every time you asked me about your eyes I wanted to tell you."

Her voice was soft and brittle, and I was wondering how she'd kept it from breaking. But she wasn't finished speaking yet.

"But I couldn't do it. You still had a child's wonder of the world, I wasn't going to shatter it for you. And then as you got older, the bullying got worse and so many times I came home to a bleeding little girl-" Now her voice cracked, and I could see the tears shining in her eyes prominently. I felt like kicking myself good and hard for asking now. I hated seeing what answering my questions was doing to her. I hated watching her relive those bad memories.

"I guess I should have known. I'd heard of similar things done to others before Malcolm rescued me the first time." Mom scoffed at herself, a self loathing grin threatening to upturn her lips. "The way you loved to climb the trees around the old house, the way you moved in the branches without being taught. And the way it continued in the city... I should have known it really was in your blood. I could give you a million reasons. A million excuses, and I couldn't expect you to forgive me."

I stared at her, a wet streak fell down her cheek. I licked my lips, giving my lip a nibble out of habit. All of this new information was running through my head all at once, threatening to burry me under a tidal wave of emotions and words and my mother's tears. But then, something about my mother's explanation stuck out to me, and when I was able to locate my voice, I brought it to attention.

"Why do keep apologizing?"

She seemed thrown off by the question, but it took her mere seconds to shrug it off and press her lips. She shook her head at herself, and I found myself hating it. My mother was a strong woman, she wasn't emotionless, but she knew how to move on from things quickly. She wasn't one to wallow over unsatisfactory events, if I can use that word. At least not for long. Seeing her like this jarred me.

"I could have fought harder to get away, I could changed the whole course of everything. All of this is my fault."

With twenty two words in two sentences, my mother became a mirror. Reflected in that mirror, was my sixteen year old self, no self esteem to speak of, frightened of everyone and everything that moved, and positive that nothing I ever did was right. It struck my chest hard to see my beautiful, strong mother like that.

I shook my head at her words. "None of this is your fault. I felt the bite of those stun guns, three times at once..." I muttered with an irritated grumble. "-and no one can stay conscious while riding out that voltage. Plus, this place has no lack of brutish staff." I sent a sharp glare toward Dr. Milo, who stood by the far wall, watching everything as it went down.

He perked up when he seen my glare. "What're you looking at me for? I didn't want to do that to you, but you forced my hand. Literally."

"The hell made you think I was willingly gonna let you anesthetize me?" I snapped back.

"Enough!" Malcolm barked. "We can't stay here. We need to go. We can pick this back up later."

Seeing the sense in this, we all jumped into action. Or at least we moved to, before a voice rang out, "wait!"

My oddball eyes flashed at the sight of Dr. Milo, his gaze confused and slightly...hopeful?

"You're busting them out of here, aren't you?" He said, looking at Graham.

"Yes." The man nodded, and in his chiseled expression, you could see the Brit challenging him to try to stop us.

Dr. Milo licked his lips. "Let me help."

"Pardon?"

_Well that was unexpected,_ I thought. Not a moment later, I was struck by another thought, and I blurted it before I could filter myself. "What's gonna happen to the other subjects here?"

A gasp sucked into my throat as lavender eyes flashed in my mind. "What about Seven? We can't leave her!"

"Who?" A few chimed.

"The girl they locked me with! I can't leave her!" I felt a strange sense of responsibility for the meek demeanored albino, my heart went out to her for having to endure this place. She'd shown me nothing but timidness and I could easily see she had a sweet side just aching to come out, if only she could just be cultivated in a safe environment.

"Let me deal with that. Can you tell me what this girl looks like?" Dr. Milo suddenly butted in, his voice hushed audible. "I'll take care of her. And the others. But I need time to plan and work this out."

"Why do you want to help?" Malcolm glared suspiciously. "How do we know you won't sound the alarm the moment we leave you alone?"

The bearded man met my father's eyes steadily. "Because no matter what they say, they can't justify any of this. The only joy I have in this job is the patients I prep and take care of. And everyday I see the suffering they endure. None of this was consensual. It's not okay and now I see an opportunity to fix things. Like hell if I'll let it slip away."

Silence concluded his words, and Malcolm stared at him long and hard, appraising him and his speech with piercing irises, his arms crossed over his chest in contemplation. But once he seemed to have come up with a conclusion, the broad shouldered man dropped his arms and turned to the geneticist standing by.

"Graham, is it possible to do this?"

The brunette pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Do you know the frequency your strongest radio uses?"

"Yes."

"Milo, are you wearing socks?"

Said man lifted a brow at the odd question. "Yes?"

"Take one off." He commanded before turning to the room. "Does anyone have a Sharpie?"

This room was unable to produce a sharpie, but a fountain pen was found, probably left by some doctor. I shivered at the thought of some creep in a lab coat examining me in my sleep. Dr. Max gave a sock, and Graham instructed my father to write the radio frequency numbers on the sock.

"Memorize that as quickly as you can and then dispose of that very carefully. Do not let it be discovered. Burn it and bury the ashes if you can." Graham said once the man's shoe was re-tied.

"I can get ahold of you like this?" He asked.

"We'll be listening for you. Ask for Malcolm." Dad nodded.

"Guys, can we move this along?" Alexander said, tapping his hand on the bed rail listlessly. I shared his thoughts, I wanted to get out of here.

"You'll get Sev out?" I clarified, giving Milo a stern stare.

"Yes. What does she look like?" He replied.

"The echolocating albino. She doesn't have a name, but she told me her number was seven." I answered.

"I think I know who you're talking about. I'll do my best for her. I promise."

"Thank you for doing this, Milo." Mom said, stepping forward to hug him.

He returned her embrace. "Get out and kick those grabby male nurses into their places."

When they parted, she returned to Dad and tucked herself under his arm. Milo turned to me. "I'd like to formally apologize for pushing the air out of your body. That was insanely inappropriate and I feel nothing but remorse for that. I hope you can forgive me."

I was a little taken aback at such a courteous apology, but I thought it over anyway. He'd been polite and kind to me when he'd introduced himself, and he was nothing but patient when I started freaking out. And my mother seemed to respect him and seemed happy for his friendship. So, if she liked him then I knew he couldn't be all that bad. So I met his gaze again and nodded. "I can forgive you."

He gave a one sided smile. "Thank you."

"We can't stay here much longer. Astrid's getting antsy and so am I. We don't have much time." Liam said from his post by the door.

"He's right. We really shouldn't push our luck." Leah agreed.

"Wait, what about him? How is he gonna explain our departure?" Mom pointed out, gesturing to Milo.

"Well, we could just knock him out and he can say I took him by surprise." Liam suggested.

Only a moment ticked by before most of us agreed, time was of the essence and we couldn't afford to sit here and think of a less aggressive plan. So, Malcolm approached the man, who sagged his shoulders and raised his head.

"Do me a favor and make it quick." He sighed.

"No hard feelings. See you soon." Malcolm replied, right before decking the man right in the jaw. Milo dropped, and as a courteousy, Dad caught him as best as he could, and lowered him to the cold floor, careful of his head.

"Okay, let's go." Liam urged, bouncing on the balls of his feet slightly.

I reached for Blue Eyes' hand, not wanting to be anywhere away from him. With that, the Elite checked the hallway, and when it was dubbed clear, we booked it, all of us trying to mute our footfalls without losing pace. It would only be a matter of time before someone managed to get the cameras back on, if they hadn't already.

Lacing our fingers together, Blue Eyes tugged me along beside him as we made a few turns. The group seemed to know where they were going, or at least the ones who'd been here before seemed to, so I stuck close to the pack. Graham veered to the left and opened up a closet door of some sort. We quickly filed inside, and like a well oiled machine, a corridor entrance was revealed as the closet door was pulled shut. So we left one cramped closet for a narrow hallway.

Liam and Graham were in the lead as we silently hurried down the hallway. I walked almost sideways, so I didn't have to twist my arm too much to keep a good grip on my husband's hand. Every now and then I'd glance back at him, and each time his head was held high and he met my oddball irises with his alluring cerulean gaze. Each time that happened, we'd both look for reassurance in the squeeze of our neatly tangled digits.

The corridor was lit up but it was dusty and cobweb covered, evidence that this particular part hadn't been used for a good long while. It took maybe twenty, silent minutes to get back to the hallway we'd first entered via questionably stable staircase. We came to the concrete wall concealing the corridors, and Leah took ahold of a switch disguised as a light bulb in an opaque glass light fixture on the wall and turned it. The grating sound rang out like the first time, and the wall slid away, bestowing our exit from the bowels of the beast. Graham stopped the team just before the wooden doors, holding up a hand as if to silence our already unmoving lips. I held my breath, listening for any signs of life on the outside. I heard bird call, and that was enough to reassure me that it was safe to emerge. If the birds were calm, there was likely no predators, human or none.

But I held my silence, seeing as Graham and Malcolm were lifting up the wooden boards that concealed the entrance from the outside, leaf litter scraping the wood. Their heads poked out like big ground hogs, scoping out the land for hazards. They dubbed it clear, murmuring quietly about how we had to hurry, the risk of patrols was too great to doddle. Latching myself to Blue Eyes' side again, we hurried through the wood copse, crunching through the terrain until we reached the stream and the willow trees came into sight.

I glanced to my left to see Mom with little Leone in her arms, his dark haired head ducked down and buried in her hair. Feeling a burst of happiness that I had my mother back, followed by a reinvigorated spurt under my step, I let a smile stretch my lips, despite the danger we were all still in. We paused just inside the tree line, spotting for danger. In hushed voices, Malcolm, Graham, Liam, Leah and Lana discussed whether we should dash to the Willow vines in small pairs of two or all of us at once. Soon they decided on the former, pointing out how even though we were in sight of the dirt road, smaller groups was harder to spot, versus a big group of nine.

It was decided that Malcolm would run Lana and Leone over, and watch the road for patrols and gesture over other planned pairs when it was safe. The little boy was getting very nervous due to his new environments, and it made me wonder if the poor child had ever been outside. I bit my lip at the thought. That wasn't right. Sunlight was a needed aspect for health, and he was little a bit pale. Fresh air was another important thing for development, but I didn't doubt OSIRIS had solved that with air conditioning, though it wasn't the same. And my little brother was Cherokee, the forest was in his blood, (in more than one way) and it was a sad thing to know that trees grew above his head and he'd probably never felt the protection of walking beneath behemoth trunks, the scent of sap and life wreathed around him.

Malcolm and Mom spoke for a moment before everyone's gaze went to the road, listening for any sign of approaching OSIRIS personnel. When the coast was clear, Malcolm ushered my mother and young brother across the stretch of clear land, and with a concave whip of the Willow leaves, they were concealed inside. Three seconds later, Dad's head and shoulders poked out and he took a long glance down the road, dubbing it clear, he waved over the next pair, Blue Eyes and I. Making quick work of the unprotected land, we soon found ourselves on the protected side of the tree.

Immersed in the shadowy air pocket under the vast umbrella of vegetation was my mom, still holding Leone close to her chest, his body so unchanged from when I last glanced at him that I wondered if he'd somehow fallen asleep.

"How is he?" Blue Eyes asked the question before I could, and a glance at him was all I needed to tell that he was a bit worried about my little brother as well.

"He's nervous. He's okay." Mom murmured, giving a nod in thanks for our concern.

Alexander and Leah joined us under the branches, and they stood silently waiting. Thirty seconds later the team was back together with Graham, Liam and Astrid the last to make the mad dash for safety. Once we were together again, a head count was taken before moving on. We crossed the stream, using rocks that protruded from the waters surface as makeshift stepping stones, and I winced at the sharp angles jutting into my bare foot. With the stream behind us, we quickly got behind the SUV, which lay untouched in the small cave where we'd left it.

Getting behind it, Malcolm unlocked the trunk and all of us pretty much threw our things in, eager to get away from the facility. Liam told Astrid to ride in the trunk this time, and the dog obeyed, jumping up onto the flat boxes pressed against the seating. The trunk door slammed shut, and we filed into the vehicle, taking the same spots as before. Mom crawled into the extra window seat beside me, giving me a glance from where I sat in Blue Eyes' lap.

I sighed and laid my head on my prince's shoulder, wishing this whole escapade was over already. But we still had to get back on the road. I didn't want to pay attention to what happened next, the car was moving and no one was cursing or yelling yet, so I took that time to try to relax into Blue Eyes' body.

_Now,_ I thought, _time to figure out how to tell my mom I married an ape and got knocked up at eighteen. And as a bonus, I had twins_.


	13. Chapter 13

Lana brushed a hand through Leo's hair, combing through it for tangles and knots. They'd been driving for maybe thirty minutes down numerous dirt roads, trying to ensure they couldn't be followed. She glanced to her left again, watching her daughter as she reclined in the lap of the chimpanzee that had been with the rescue team, her eyes closed and her body loose with relaxation.

It was plain to see that this chimp was obviously very, very different from the ones Lana was familiar with. He spoke, walked upright with a straight back, obviously held great intelligence, his eyes were blue, and there was apparently something non-platonic going on between him and Rain.

From observation she'd found that his name seemed to be Blue Eyes, which seemed pretty fitting, seeing as his eyes actually were blue.

Another thing she'd learned by keeping an eye on him was that he seemed to be very protective of her daughter, and Rain seemed to willingly seek out his close proximity. The way the younger woman had full on kissed the ape as soon as she saw him strongly suggested at least as much. She never thought she'd see the day her little Rain would kiss an ape, and with such...passion. The way her daughter had gasped his name and shot up into his arms at the mere sight of him...

Lana knew she'd missed a lot.

And she wanted to be filled in, very soon.

Gaze fixed on the trees flashing by outside, the escapee contemplated what she'd witnessed of Blue Eyes the chimp so far. He'd stood out to her from the start. The borderline crudely made leather strap over his chest, making an X out of the three jagged scars streaked across his body, the way he watched things happen, listened to people speaking and actually absorbed every single word cognitively. It was certainly not hard to deduct that he was different than other apes, that he was _smarter_.

But the last tier on the cake was the fact that he had opened his mouth and _spoke_. A voice that suggested youth, but not childish youth, and held no stutter or sign of any difficulty in forming the words whatsoever. The feat amazed Lana, but what intrigued her about him was the way he'd been the first to notice that someone had been missing, and the way he'd referred to Rain as his. The centerpiece on top of the cake was the fact that everyone was acting as if their relationship was normal.

Lana chastised herself for the thought, for it was hypocritical. She'd always enforced the teachings that there were no limits to love, none at all, and she'd been perfectly fine with the fact that her first born son had admitted to being homosexual. It wasn't a big deal in the slightest to her, and she'd always believed homophobia was the offspring of ignorance and strict religious teachings. Not to say she had a problem with religion, she was fine with it as long as it didn't affect other peoples' happiness.

But she didn't know how to approach her daughter's situation. Everyone seemed to like and even respect the ape, and no one was showing any uncomfortableness at how they were acting together, no one else has seemed very surprised when Rain had shot up and kissed him. What had happened since she'd been gone? Could it really have been so much? It must have been.

But the thirty seven year old wanted very much to remain neutral about this until she heard Rain's explanation, as absurd as that sounds coming from a mother. But she'd always taught her children that they could tell her anything without fear of judgement until she'd heard the whole story. Lana didn't see any good reason not to follow the same protocols she'd been using for all three of her children. But damn if she didn't want to hear what her daughter had to say, and she was also very curious about what Malcolm had to say about this. He'd always let her know his opinions about the children's upbringing, as she'd requested of him.

And yet he seemed to have no problem with the fact that since they'd found Rain in that room, she and the chimp had been pretty much hanging off of each other.

But, looking back, there seemed to be legitimately authentic feelings between the two. Lana remembered the way the ape had been the first to realize Rain was missing, (the fact that Malcolm even allowed Rain to be within a mile of that building was still something Lana fully intended to bitch about. She was going to give a good, big piece of her mind to that man, and he was severely delusional if he thought he'd get away with anything less) and the way he'd reacted to her absence intrigued her as well.

He'd been royally pissed.

His dark fur had bristled on his shoulders, making him appear much bigger, and bulkier than he already was. The way his lip curled just in the slightest was enough to give a peek at the ivory fangs he no doubt sported. The ape had slammed Liam to that wall hard enough to hear the meaty thud of his body colliding with the concrete quite audibly. Those piercing blue eyes had intimidated Lana from where she'd stood on the sidelines, and her hands had instinctively pulled Leone behind her at the sight of the enraged chimpanzee.

But somehow, during the conflict of his obvious desire to knock the Elite around good and hard, and the intervention of the familiar-ish looking young man, Leone had slipped past her. And, of course, headed straight for the pissed off ape. Lana had been ready to snatch her boy back, but when the chimp had managed to relax himself, crouch down, and actually _talk_ with her son, Lana hadn't known what else to do besides stand and watch. That was another thing.

Leone had immediately taken a strong liking to him.

Which surprised the hell out Lana. Leone was very mistrusting of most everyone, and the people he wasn't nervous of, actually happened to be rather trustworthy. Including Liam, Graham and Milo. But the little two and a half year old seemed rather fond of...Blue Eyes. That told Lana that he was a good guy, but she wanted solid proof to see for herself.

When they'd found Rain's clothes, and even her archery set (something that didn't surprise, but endeared the mother), Lana had seen the way the ape's eyes narrowed as he thought everything over. He looked dangerous when he did that, he looked ready to attack the first that looked at him wrong. But again Leone approached him, even tugged on him, and again Blue Eyes had been able to snap out of it for the sake of the boy. The way he tried to comfort her son, both then and when they'd found Rain, made Lana respect him.

And, Rain had called out to him. She'd only said 'Blue' and at the time it confused Lana, but once she learned the chimpanzee's name from Malcolm, it made a bit of sense. The sound of the terror in her daughter's voice must have gotten to Blue Eyes as well, what with the way he had dashed out into the open in search for her. He'd actually managed to overtake her in the pursuit of Rain, and Lana prided herself in her running speed. She'd been a track star all throughout high school and had kept running long into med school.

Maybe she'd lost some of her stamina due to such a...confined...long term restriction period.

She pushed the thought away, it was an easily fixable problem once she settled into a regular lifestyle again, but she had more important things to contemplate right now.

Raina could have called out for anyone, Malcolm or Liam or anyone else, but she had wanted this Blue Eyes to take the scares away. He obviously meant as much to her as she did to him, the way they both reclined together, their arms wrapped around each other beside her was all the evidence she needed to prove that. What Lana wanted to know was how that came along.

The woman knew that the source of the Simian Flu was a product of trial runs for a drug on escaped lab chimpanzees, maybe one had been caught and testing was what...evolved Blue Eyes. Giving another glance at him, Lana didn't think this was the case. He was a young adult by the looks of him, and unless he was the offspring of two experimented apes, he was too young for that theory to be very plausible. She stopped trying to figure something out, knowing she'd just start coming up with crazy stories, and opted to wait for that explanation as well.

When Rain had regained consciousness, Lana's back had been turned. She'd been so focused on what the geneticist had been saying that when she turned at the sound of her daughter gasping the ape's name, she'd been hugging him tightly, and him returning the gesture. The mother had been shocked silent of any words she might have uttered at the sight of her little girl, who wasn't a little girl anymore pull back only to lay her lips almost fiercely onto the ape's. She'd only been able to regain her voice when they'd gone back to just hugging. And then her baby girl had been back in her arms and everything else had escaped her mind.

She couldn't believe how her daughter had changed. The shade of her hair had gained more texture and even a little more volume (her children had all been blessed with their father's family's traits of a little natural lift to their straightened follicles), and it had gotten longer as well. The way she held herself was also different, not once had she seen Rain keep her head down submissively like she used to, and no more did she hold the posture of a girl who wished she could just fold into herself when faced with speaking to another person. She stood straight with her head high, and Lana wasn't sure if this was the reason she looked like she'd grown an inch.

Her body had finished growing. Her baby was now an adult. It was something that Lana had had a hard time realizing with her oldest son, now her precious, only daughter was no longer small enough to ride on her back, she would no longer need to stick to her side when they went out. Thoughts like these prodded the woman to wonder what had become of her son and daughter while she was gone. She had faith that if the circumstances were satisfactory, Rain could fix whatever was wrong with the dam on Mount Tama, especially with Dax's help. Around the house, they'd both always been wonderful at fixing things that malfunctioned. Lana was glad that Dax wasn't here, it was bad enough her daughter had been inside that place, she was relieved she didn't have to worry about her other son's safety.

There were so many things she needed to go over, Lana felt like it would take four years to feel caught up on everything she'd missed in the two she was gone.

Hours later, when the sun had begun the process of setting the clouds ablaze, Lana blinked out of her thoughts at the feel of the car jerking to the side of the road and into the tree line. It only took a moment to register that Graham was trying to hide the large SUV inside the woodland that paralleled the road. But what she didn't know, was where they were. She supposed it didn't really matter as long as they were safe. A glance down told her that Leone was still asleep, and she breathed in, admiring her sleepy little fox cub.

"Okay guys, it should be safe to stop for the night." Malcolm said, opening up his door and swinging out of the vehicle.

"Wake up, Rainbird."

Lana turned her head at the soft voice. It seemed Leone wasn't the only child who had fallen asleep during the drive. Blue Eyes held Rain's body to his with an arm around her waist, his free hand ranging from her cheek to her shoulder, giving the latter a gentle shake every now and then.

"My bird, it's time to get up." His voice was so soft and gentle, so different from the enraged snarl he'd used back in the strange, hidden hallways. Lana blinked at the nickname, and found it cute. She wondered what her inquisitive little monkey had done to earn that name. The woman blinked again at what she had just thought. _Not monkey...ape_. She thought. _How could I be such an idiot for all this time? How could I have never guessed?_

The mother was distracted again when she heard Rain give a small sound, and when she turned back, her eyes were blinking open. Her eyes were flashing a beautiful emerald, popping out against her charcoal lashes and caramel complexion. Rain's eyes fluttered, trying to purge sleep from her irises, but they stopped when she met the ape's gaze. Then she smiled. It was a soft, happy smile that was returned before she leaned up and gave his lips a peck. Then they adjusted their holds on each other, and their foreheads laid against one another.

Licking her lips, Lana decided to leave them be, and exited the vehicle as quietly as she could to avoid disturbing the pair as well as her still sleeping son.

The first person she seen was Malcolm, and she started toward him, but was stopped by a voice. "...do you want me to hold him for you?"

She turned, seeing the young man from before. Something about him struck her as familiar, and she wondered if maybe he'd been one of her patients back in San Francisco. "I'm sorry, do I know you from somewhere?"

She wasn't trying to sound rude, but she didn't want to just guess from afar, so asking him was the next best option she could think of. But the boy didn't seem to be expecting that. His eyes widened a little, and his lips parted.

"Aunt Lana, it's me, Alexander."

"Alexander?!" The woman gasped, scanning his face over quickly. Now she knew why he looked so familiar, he looked just like Malcolm had when he was younger! It was looking into a mirror from the past, a carbon copy. Even his hairstyle was similar. But she shook that thought away, washed away by the strong burst of excitement and happiness she felt at being able to see the young man again. She couldn't believe how he'd grown.

"Look at you! You're so handsome! You look just like your father did!" She gushed, ecstatically.

She'd missed him, he was the peacekeeper between all her children, swapping roles with Rain whenever Dax was involved. But back then he'd been thin and gangly, but puberty seemed to have left in his favor. Now he was lean and toned, his hair was grown out and his grey eyes were the color that inspired steel. She moved Leone to her one arm and used the other to quickly embrace him.

"You've grown up too! I missed you!" She couldn't help but laugh.

Lana loved Alexander, she'd liked him from the first time she met him, as she got to know the little boy and watched him grow, he grew on her like grape vines. She cherished him just as much as her biological children and a part of her bigger than she cared to admit still wished for a day where he'd call her his mom. She knew full well that no one could ever replace his mother, and she knew he still missed her (she knew Malcolm did too, and she was okay with that), but she didn't need to be his mother, she just wanted to be a good mom to him.

The young man laughed, his voice deeper but Lana could still easily recognize it now that she knew it was him. The sound would have made her smile if she wasn't already using up all the space available on her face to beam happily.

"I missed you too." He replied. "We all did."

"God, let me look at you," she took a step back, not fully believing the change brought upon the once lanky boy. Lana had thought his shyness was an adorable mix with how tall he was, now he didn't seem so shy now, it seemed he'd gained some of the same confidence Rain had acquired. Lana was glad. She'd been worried that their timidness would hold them back in life, now she didn't think that so much. "I can't believe how cute you are! Ohhh, I missed this face."

She brought a hand up and held his cheek, squeezing it in compensation for not pinching it like she wanted to. Alexander laughed again and half heartedly pulled his face away, looking down and then up, trying to hide his happy smile. Lana's face only brightened at that. He was still the cute little boy she remembered. A deeper chuckle emanated from behind her, and like a teenager, her stomach filled with butterflies when she recognized it. She'd know that laugh anywhere.

"Leave the kid alone. He's too old for that." Malcolm lightly chided.

"Not when I haven't seen him for two years he's not." She replied, looking over shoulder at him.

He'd shaved his beard off from the last time she'd seen him, though a few days' stubble shaded his jaw. The woman fought the urge to run her fingers over his jaw. But she couldn't, not with most of their children at the scene. Lana felt the familiar pang in her chest, the guilt of not being able to tell her sons and daughter that their father really had been there, at least for the past decade. But it was just too risky.

Malcolm's bright blue irises glinted in the fiery, dying light. "I've missed you."

The words got trapped in her throat when she tried to reply. It had felt like so long...she wasn't sure if the word _missed_ properly conveyed how she'd felt. The phrase 'distance makes the heart fonder' only scraped the surface. First she'd suffered through trying to explain to a toddler Dax why Daddy wasn't coming back, and then the same thing with Rain, but when she'd been reunited with Malcolm the first time, she'd felt like dying she was so happy.

But after having to endure the tortures of OSIRIS while trying to raise Malcolm's fourth child, after doing her best to give him as close to the same upbringing she'd been able to give Dax and Rain, without any help dealing with the stress of worrying for her child when they were separated... Seeing Malcolm again after all of that flooded her with love for the man.

The butterflies that still pestered her whenever he spoke to her after all these years were proof enough that she was ruined for any other man or woman for the rest of her days.

Lana blinked back to attention again, feeling Leone shift in her arms. He still slept, but Alexander was still offering to give her a break. She accepted, glad for the chance to stretch out her arms. Finally free to react to Malcolm's words, so she threw her arms around his neck, pressing herself close to him. His arms coiled tightly around her, bringing back the familiar feelings of security and warmth and fuzziness. She loved that after all she'd endured throughout her life, Malcolm was always there to make her feel like a carefree, love-struck teenager again without even consciously trying.

When they pulled back, and Lana's dark hues met Malcolm's light ones, she parted her lips in preparation to tell him that she missed him too, but then the most unexpected of unexpected things happened.

* * *

A smile dashed across my face when I witnessed the embrace between my mother and father. Blue Eyes and I had clambered out of the car together, and while I was still tired from the stress of this mission, despite the Ritalin I'd been informed that was in my system. I wasn't exactly comfortable with the fact that a still experimental drug had been administered into my body, but I understood that time had been of the essence. At least that explained the lack of grogginess I'd noticed.

Blue Eyes and I made toward my family, and a sly idea crossed my mind when I saw Mom and Dad pull back from each other to make eye contact. As I passed, I gave my mother's back a good, quick push, and I heard her let out a surprised gasp before it was muffled by Malcolm's lips. I smirked devilishly as I kept walking a few more steps, bumping fists triumphantly with Alexander and leaning into Blue Eyes' body after he slung an arm around my waist.

It had only taken a moment for both of them to get passed the initial shock and fall into each other. A little noise made me glance down, and I blinked down at a little mass of pale cloth and long, dark hair. I awed at the sight of little Leone sleeping in his older brother's arms, his own frail looking ones locked around Alexander's neck. It reminded me of my twins, and I felt a saddened pang in my chest at the thought. I missed them. It felt like I'd been gone from them for weeks.

I missed my friends as well. I wondered how Cornelia was doing with the two rambunctious twins, as well as carting around a nearly birth-big enough baby inside of her, as well as providing care for Haze, _and_ the duties around the colony that she unnecessarily strived to complete each day. Then I wondered how she's managed raising two boys, even if they were separated by a good age gap. I felt like an old, decrepit woman at the end of every day of running after my pretty little angels. Did I have so much energy when I was their age? I'd have to ask.

That was another matter. I was already worried about how my mother would react when she finds out I married an ape. I wasn't at all ashamed of it, I loved Blue Eyes with all I had and if she didn't like that then it was her own personal problem, but I didn't want to be ridiculed by her. And how would she react to the fact that she was a grandmother now? What I really wanted to know was how she'd consciously deal with the fact that her only daughter had willingly given herself mind and body (the latter which I did especially often, though what she didn't know wouldn't kill her) to an ape? If she didn't know my Blue Eyes yet, absurd didn't even begin to describe how she'd likely find it.

And then there is the fact that not only was I able to carry his children, but during my first pregnancy I'd given him twins.

I drew in a deep breath. I shouldn't work myself up, Lana would more than likely have a few misgivings (to put it lightly) about this, but I knew that once she got to know the apes and my children and my in-laws, she'd start to see what I saw. Then she would understand. My mother was many things but closed minded was something I'd never known her to be.

A throat cleared awkwardly, and Alexander pulled me back from my thoughts. A full sixty something seconds must have passed, and Malcolm and Lana were still lip locked, both seeming quite invested in each other.

"Okay, this is getting awkward now." I muttered.

"Yeah," Alexander agreed. "I wasn't expecting them to keep it up like that."

"Bad choice of words, bro." I grimaced.

"That was out of context and you know it." He returned, not sparing me a glance.

"Well, duh." I said sarcastically. "God, breathe guys." I added, seeing Lana and Malcolm were showing no signs of pulling away from each other. I know I'm the one who caused that but this is a little much, seeing as they're my parents. In the back of my mind I knew I was one to talk, but I dismissed it.

Alexander cleared his throat a little louder, and they finally pulled back, but Malcolm didn't seem willing to let Lana out of his arms.

"Well," Alexander sighed. "That got weird."

Both of them chuckled at his words, but it was distracted and soon their eyes found each other again. The way they gazed into each other, not just into their eyes, but it was clear that they were seeing _each other_. It made my heart swell happily to see how in love they looked right then, and a grin stretched my face again as I leaned into Blue Eyes. He gave the top of my head a kiss, and I leaned up and kissed his jaw in return.

"So, Dad, are you gonna go help them? I think Graham's having some trouble with that crate." I pointed out, noticing the way the un-toned Brit was struggling to carry a crate the size of Astrid.

"Dad?" Lana's neck snapped towards me.

_Shit,_ I thought. I'd forgotten that my mother didn't know that I was aware of who fathered me.

"It's okay, mom." I jumped in before my mom could do anything with the bewildered look she was shooting at Malcolm. "I know."

She looked back at me. "You know?" The way she said it informed me that she wanted to know just what I knew exactly before she allowed herself to jump to conclusions.

"I know that Malcolm is my father. We all do."

"You do?" She looked terrified, I held up my hands to stop her from apologizing again.

"It's okay. I'm not mad or upset. I already forgave you. Daddy explained everything."

"She still calls me daddy!" Malcolm beamed, grinning down widely at Lana, sounding like an excited teenager. I smiled at how cute that was, as well as how refreshing it was to see that despite all the new responsibilities on his shoulders, my dad still had the capacity to feel young. (Not that he was relatively old, but the stress of responsibility can age one fairly quickly)

"Uh-huh." Lana breathed, obviously still going over it in her head. I gave a sigh.

"Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"I missed you."

Mom seemed to blink out of her thinking. "I missed you too, monkey."

My eyes started burning at the sound of the old nickname my mother hadn't used for years. I'd forgotten all about it, and the reuse of it flooded my mind with precious memories. I stepped toward her and she met me in the middle, crushing me in another comfortably constricting hug. God, I'd missed her hugs.

"I've missed a lot, haven't I?" My mom said, her arms still around me.

"You have no idea." I somehow managed to sigh and simultaneously giggle into her hair.

She pulled back to look at me, holding my chin and under-jaw in her slender fingers. "Help catch me up?"

I nodded, torn between being excited about alone time with my mother after all this time of thinking her dead, and dreading having to gauge her reactions to everything I said to her.

"Stay with him please, Alexander. If he wakes up before I'm back, watch him for me. If he doesn't, let him sleep." Lana said, turning back to the boys. When Alexander agreed, she turned and started walking toward the tree line.

_"Good luck."_ Blue Eyes signed when he caught my eye.

_"Thanks. I'll need it."_ I sighed. _"I love you."_

_"I love you too."_

With that, I turned and followed my mother. Dad called to us, asking us not to go too far, and Lana and I called back an acknowledgment in unison. I took a deep breath, preparing myself for the potential upcoming stress. Soon my mother found a rotting, fallen log to sit on, and I was grateful that it was out of earshot of any angered outbursts my mom might have, but still close enough to the work-in-progress camp that if one of us screamed for help we would be heard.

"I don't know where to begin.." I said, once we'd been sitting in silence for one dragged out set of sixty seconds.

"How about...where we left off? What happened after you left? How's your brother?" She answered.

I bit my lip, wanting to bolt at the thought of telling my mother about her dead first born. God, it was going to crush her.

"Well," I started. "Turns out, do you remember when we heard about that ape rebellion a decade ago? Well, they live on mount Tama. But mom, they've all evolved, that's why they were able to get across the bridge, and how they got away from those hunters who burned the forest closer to the city. A chimpanzee named Caesar led them, and he still does..."

With that, I told her what happened (excluding Dax's death) after I got into the forest, and how Caesar was shot and the whole Koba fiasco that ended with his amnesia and re-acceptance back into the village. Then I got to telling her about Blue Eyes and I. I bet you can imagine how much fun I had doing that (note my sarcasm).

"And, well, through this whole entire thing, Caesar's son, Blue Eyes and me, we got pretty close pretty fast." I began.

"Yeah, seemed like it." My mother joked, though neither of us laughed, and I struggled to hide a wince.

"And...Mom, I fell in love with him." I looked down before I said it, afraid of her reaction. But something made me meet her chocolate gaze again near the end of my sentence.

Her lips parted in shock, and she just stared at me, silent. I took another deep breath, and used that silence to push in some more important information.

"And a few months after the incident in the city, Malcolm was elected as Chief Maddock. And he and Caesar decided to form a peace treaty between the apes and the human colony. By then, both of them and a few others knew about how Blue and I felt about each other and...they said that a union between the descendants of both colonies leaders would strengthen the treaty..." I trailed off and bit my lip, letting her connect the last dot.

A moment of stunned silence filled the air before my mom blinked with surprise. "I-.. Rain, you're _married?_ I _missed_ my daughter's wedding?!"

I let out a breath, a relieved grin forming on my face. She could have reacted so much worse.

"There's more." I said, my smile leaving.

"There's _more?"_ Lana gapped.

I bit my lip, nervous again. "I may have...gotten pregnant."

"You're pregnant?!" She whisper hissed, overcome by astonishment and shock. Then she gave me a good cuff to the skull. "You got married and then you _cheated_?! I thought I raised you better than that!"

"I would never cheat!" I gapped back. "Blue Eyes fathered them. This happened two years ago."

Lana froze. "Them?"

I paused. Well, might as well put the icing on the cake. "Yeah... I had twins."

The look that came over her face was unreadable. I was stuck between shocked and brain dead. I chewed on my lower lip, tingling with nerves. It took a good bunch of seconds before she was able to speak again. If one could call it speaking.

"Twi...what- you, but...huh..."

"Are you okay?" I asked slowly, not sure of how to comprehend that.

Finally, she breathed out, "I'm an _elisi_?"

I couldn't help but giggle a little. "Yeah, you're a grandma now."

"I-..." She trailed off, obviously not knowing what to say next. Then she seemed to shrug to herself before asking, "How do they look? A-are they healthy? What are their names?" She stopped herself before the obvious stream of questions she had could flow, and I was glad. I didn't know if I could keep up with her right now.

"They're both beautiful, they look like normal chimps. They're perfectly healthy. We named them Sage and River, my little girl is the youngest." I answered.

"Mom, I know this so much to take in, but I promise, once we get home and you see how everything is now, you'll understand more. And you're going to love the twins, I promise. It's kind of impossible not to." I added.

Lana took a few deep breathes in and out, leaning over and rubbing her temples. I didn't know whether that was a good or a bad sign.

"Are you sure they're yours?" She murmured.

"Of course. Dad was there through the whole thing, he'll tell you. And Aunt Ellie helped me deliver." I decided to not let myself consciously wonder how I could not be sure they were mine. I knew Mom knew that too, she was probably just in shock right now.

She suddenly sat up straight, her hand on my forearm. "The delivery, how did that go? Were you okay? Where was their father? Where was _your_ father?"

"I was in labor for almost two hours, and I was in good hands the whole time. It went completely fine, I was lucky and there were no complications. Blue Eyes was out on a hunt when my water broke, and he got back just after Sage was born." A fond smile appeared on my face at the memory. "He felt bad that he missed it, you should have seen the look in his eye when he apologized for that. He's always so sweet to me. You'll like him a lot when you get to know him. Malcolm came around pretty quickly."

"I need some time to think about all of this." She sighed.

I bit my lip. "You're...not gonna disown me, are you? Because that's not fair and I'm not gonna change a thing about my life just because you don't approve. I love Blue and our children and nothing is going to separate me from them." I enforced, getting over my fear of maternal abandonment in the wake of the notion that she'd try to force me back into the city and cut me off from my family.

Lana looked at me like I'd grown a Shrek shaped pumpkin on my shoulder. "I would never do that! You are my daughter and I love you no matter what you do. Look, I just...need some time to process everything. I don't know what I think yet."

I took a deep, calming breath. "Okay. Well, you know my opinion if you decide you don't like this. But you're still my mom and I love you too. I really hope this doesn't change anything between us."

"I don't think it does." She said. "Let's get back, it's getting dark."

And with that, she took me under her arm and led me back to the camp in the fading light. I took another deep breath, desiring nothing more than to curl up next to Blue Eyes and await my mother's judgment.


	14. Chapter 14

I'd learned a while ago that when in doubt, quiet, lethargic hours of laying in Blue Eyes arms while getting my hair combed out was better than any spa treatment. He always knew how to pet away the worries. We sat isolated in a tent of our own, silently holding one another while our minds did as they pleased.

_"Want to tell me what happened?"_ Blue Eyes soon signed.

_"It went a lot better than I let myself expect."_ I gestured back.

_"Is she okay? Dax?."_

Had the thought of my brother not made me so melancholy, I would have smiled at the concern Blue Eyes showed.

_"I couldn't tell her."_ I replied. _"I tried, but every time I went to, I kept thinking about being in her position. What if River was taken from us? I'd be so crushed. I couldn't do that her."_

_"You can't avoid it forever, but I understand what you mean."_ He gestured gently.

_"I know."_ I nodded, scooting closer to his warmth.

He inclined his head and pressed his mouth to my hair, and I breathed in, finding comfort in that ever present pine scent of his.

"I want to go home." I whispered. "I miss our babies, I wanna hold them again." I confessed.

"I do, too. And we will." He locked another arm around my waist, adjusting the both of us so we laid on our sides, facing each other. "We'll be home soon."

_Not soon enough_ , I thought. But I held my silence, opting instead to lay my palm on his nape, fingers curled around the underside of his skull to bring his forehead to mine.

"Why do the crazy things always have to happen to us?" I murmured after a while of comforting silence.

"At least no one can ever say we're boring." Blue Eyes shrugged, a smile in his voice.

"But can anyone say that we're completely sane, either?" I replied, a smile finally upon my mouth.

"Probably depends on perception." He answered, his mouth hooked upward to one side.

"True."

"Have you noticed Leone's eyes?" Blue Eyes asked, coiling his arms tighter around me, pulling my body flush against his chest. I leaned my shoulders back to look at his face and stretched my arms out to hook them around his neck.

I hummed an affirmation to his question. "Sectoral heterochromia."

Blue gave a questioning grunt, unfamiliar with the term.

"That's what it's called. The band of blue in his otherwise fully brown irises, they call it sectoral heterochromia. It comes in different colors."

"Is there a name for yours?"

I shook my head. "Mine are completely unheard of."

"I have a name for them." He murmured, a small sigh relaxing his body.

"What is it?" I asked, curious.

"Beautiful."

I swear, I felt my heart just melt. Fondness and love tipped a crescent moon onto its back, and my lips were quick to follow its example.

"God, I love you." I sighed lovingly before I kissed him, then hugged him.

"I love you too, Birdie." He replied, moving his arms to return my hug better.

This was one of those moments where he reminded me of how much he meant to me. I'd only really known him for two, almost three years now but I felt like I'd been by his side all my life. Everything I loved about him ran through my mind, from the way he could always tell whether or not to make me laugh or to just solemnly listen to my problems and then share his opinions and suggestions, to the way he interacted with our children. I loved the way that if he were in a particularly good mood before a hunt, he'd play around and splatter me with paint when I was helping him prepare.

The way he could read me, and understand what he saw in a way no one else had before. The way he tried his best to help the younger apes by giving them little encouraging tips, and even going as far as to put aside time for each individual ape and staying by them faithfully until their problem was solved, expressing wonderful self restraint and patience with even the most troubled youngsters. One thing that particularly made me want to do little extra things for him was the way he parented our twins. Never had he ever implied that they should believe that they couldn't do something. Once he noticed the gender roles that were more firmly instilled into the humans who visited, he made sure to instill the philosophy that the twins didn't have to keep from doing something they enjoyed just because it wasn't the most boyish or feminine thing. It made me proud that he had such ideals.

Even the things that used to scare me, like his harder glare, l found endearing, and his growl never failed to send shivers down my spine.

I was pulled back to reality when I felt Blue Eyes heave a big sigh after laying a kiss on my neck. He adjusted us again and offered his arm up as a pillow. We spoke quietly together for a while longer before slumber's tide washed over us, drawing us into quiet darkness.

* * *

I woke up early that morning, the sun not yet conscious. The first thing that I noticed was the fact that Blue Eyes was not beside me. I sat up, gazing blearily around for my beloved, but the tent was empty. I grabbed the blanket we had laid on and unzipped the tent, closing it again after I departed. The sky was still dotted with stars, the thin clouds streaking across the twilight in ribbons were a pretty robin egg blue with the beginnings of dawn.

I looked around, seeing no one else around. Seeing as my prince wasn't anywhere on the ground, I turned my attention to the branches around us. Picking out a stable tree was easy, and so was scaling it. Once at a satisfactory altitude, I started circling the camp, searching the nearby trees for any signs of Blue Eyes. It didn't take long, for he wasn't very far. His dark form was perched on an oak's branch, that piercing gaze of his staring off into the distant wilderness. Pausing to let out a relieved breath, I began to ascend toward him. When I joined him among the foliage, he was glaring over his shoulder at the unexpected visitor. But when he recognized me, his features softened, and I sat down, one knee pulled to my chest, the other leg dangling off the thick bough.

"It's cold." I murmured, revealing the blanket.

He glanced down at it, taking it from my hands and draping it over my shoulders. I scooted closer to him and laid the other end of the blanket on his opposite shoulder, silently sharing. My ape placed an arm around me and used the other to pull the blanket tighter around us. I looked to where his eyes had been fixed, and seen what he was waiting for. In a break in the foliage, a far off mountain ridge could just be seen if one strained, a halo of yellow light illuminating it and reflecting off the mist from the coast, making it so it was even harder to see.

"We're almost home." I sighed quietly, not wanting to speak too loud and risk disturbing the dormant wildlife. Blue Eyes grunted in agreement.  
We sat in silence, watching the sun slowly travel upwards, blocking out the last traces of our Taiga home entirely. Maybe ten minutes rolled by before the silence broke again, this time by my husband.

_"Is everything okay? I just realized, you're up early."_ He gestured, turning his bright blue orbs on me.

_"No. I worried when you weren't there when I woke up, so I went to look for you."_ I signed back.

Blue Eyes gave a disapproving grunt. _"Dangerous. What if something else found you first?"_

_"I knew you'd hear, or the rest would have. Worst comes to worst, I gain a matching set."_ I finished by lifting up the hem of the sweatshirt I'd slept in and showed off the lion's scars etched into my abdomen

_"You don't know that."_ He returned, giving me a solemn look through softly glaring eyes.

_"No,"_ I consented, _"but I have faith in you."_

Before he could say anything more on the matter, my hands spoke again, _"so what are you doing up here this early? Hunting birds?"_

"I already caught my bird." He murmured, with a small shake of his head. "All these other ones don't look nearly as appealing."

I smiled, knowing I had no hopes in hiding it from him. "Have I ever told you that you always know what to say?"

"I just say what I feel." He shrugged, though I could see just how nonchalant he was trying to play himself off as. Keyword here, trying. I also found it incredibly adorable how he was attempting to hide his grin.

"Now, see, that right there is exactly what I'm talking about." I cooed, turning my body to lock my arms around his neck and gave him a lingering kiss on the cheek. "Keep saying things like that, and you'll be stuck with me long after you get sick of me." I added jokingly. "As if you weren't stuck with me already."

He turned to look at me with a soft smile, not saying anything yet, just staring at my face. I smiled back, feeling happy to just gaze into those cerulean orbs I adored. Then, he gave a fond shake of his head _. "I could never get sick of you. I don't think I'd be able to function without you to hold in public, or worship in the dark, and I'd go completely rabid if I ever had to face a world without your massages."_ He signed.

Tears threatened to prick at the back of my eyes as I read those gestures. _"And how would I get by without that smile or sense of humor. And even the notion of not hearing your snoring is bizarre. I'd be so lost without you."_ I signed, then I opted for silence, and leaned forward, catching his mouth with mine.

He snagged his fingers around my side, pulling me closer as he reciprocated. It was slow and I worked to pour in all that he meant to me through two mouths, using the sum of thirty-four muscles doubled to do it. I got lost in the feeling of being pressed close to him, of the palpitations his poetic words had given me, of the pine sap scent that never really left him. Time elapsed without my comprehension, merging seconds together so that they swirled and diffused in my head, knocking away and drowning out any thoughts I could have had about anything else. He was warm and the air was cold. His heat was pouring into me, and there seemed to be frost sparkling in the air around us, a shimmering aura.

I don't exactly know when it ended, but when I was able to comprehend my surroundings again, Blue Eyes' back was pressed against the tree's trunk and I was in his lap and both of us were panting. Soon, our breathing regulated, and we bathed in the warm bands of the dawn's light washing over us in the cool morning air. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, I spoke up again.

"You never answered my question." I murmured.

He gave an inquisitive hum.

"You never told me why you came up here." I reminded him, nuzzling my nose into his pec for a moment, savoring the warmth.

He didn't answer right away, thinking about his reply. "Home. The twins."

I bit the inside of my lip, my mind teleporting me nine or so hours away, to where my two babies were probably waking up right about now.

"I can't wait to see them." I sighed, snuggling closer into his scars and fur when a cold wind whispered passed, seeking more warmth.

Sensing that I was sensitive to the chilly breeze, (the shorts I wore didn't help insulate any form of heat) he hooked his fingers into the crook of my knees and pulled them closer to our paper-close-pressed bodies and rubbed his large palms over my thighs and down to my ankles, offering friction to cure the cold puckering my skin.

"Remember when they used to get freaked out by their own sneezes?" I asked, a smile coming to my face.

Blue Eyes gave a puff of laughter. "Sage's eyes would get so wide."

"And when they didn't have their teeth?" I cooed.

"When they were always gumming at everything." He chuckled.

"You mean us." I reminded him.

Laughter puffed through him again. "Remember their first signs?"

I laughed happily, thinking back to the times. Sage's first sign had been at the bathing falls. She'd found a turtle in the lagoon, and she'd been both entranced and intimidated by it. With River perched on my shoulders, I'd crouched down beside her and explained what it was, signing as well as speaking like we always did with them, while Blue Eyes held the little creature in his palm for her inspection. After staring at it for another thirty seconds, she lifted her hands, lightly clenched one fist, and made a tent with her other hand over it, and wiggled her thumb from where it poked out between her hands, finishing the sign for turtle.

Blue Eyes and I had erupted in pride and affection, showering her with praise and love, not forgetting to include River in on everything. (That was the thing Blue Eyes and I strived to parent with, equality. We never wanted either of our babies to think one was inferior to the other or we loved or favored one of them more than the other. So far I was fairly sure we'd done a pretty decent job.)

River's first sign had simultaneously been his first spoken word, and that word had been 'who'. For a while, we'd had an owl trying to move its nest into a hollow knob in Home Tree near the entrance to our hollow, and at night, we could hear the owl cooing and hooting constantly. At first it hadn't been so bad, and before bed, we'd taken up the chance to educate the twins on what the creature was. You'd have thought if anything he would have caught on to the gesture for owl, but he saw the way we'd tried to make it easier to learn by saying things like, 'who is that?'

'An owl!'

Apparently the one that stuck was the first word of that little skit. Anyway, when River had decided to show us of his knowledge, he had been in my arms.

* * *

_Sage moved from her father's shoulders to tuck herself into his arms, ready to go with him to go to see Caesar, who liked to put time aside for each of the twins, both together and individually (Cornelia did this too, but she had her hands full with trying to keep up with raising an age transitioning little boy as well as keeping up with teaching the children's classes when a teacher had fallen too ill to return to duty or for some other reason._

_Blue Eyes and Sage had been about to walk out, when I'd said to River, "say bye-bye to Daddy and Sage."_

_The two in question had turned, so Blue Eyes could wave, but before he made the motion, our River raised his hand to his mouth, and spoke the word his hand signed._

_"Who?"_

_My eyes had widened, and I looked to Blue Eyes, silently asking if what I thought had just happened, actually happened. At the same shocked look my husband gave me, I knew I hadn't misread any random wiggling of his fingers. After that moment of simultaneous astonishment, both of us had bursted into excited chatter, fueled by the intoxicating feeling of seeing evidence that we might just be doing an okay job at this whole parenting deal. The pride that welled up at that single syllable word and simple gesture was like an adrenaline shot of euphoria._

_Blue Eyes and our daughter were almost twenty minutes late to meet with Caesar due to the fact that we'd all spent just that much time hugging and squealing like teenaged girls over our little boy's milestone. Sage hadn't seemed to understand just what was such a big deal, but as long as she got some love too, she was perfectly happy with the hold up_.

* * *

"You know what? I forgot to do the 'mama' thing." I realized.

"The what?"

"I forgot to keep telling them to say 'mama' when they were first born." I replied, feeling like a complete dunce at the moment.

"Oh, yeah..." Blue Eyes trailed off. "So did I."

Silence fell upon us again. My eyes wandered back to the mountains in the distance, blocked out by the golden rays of this planet's lifeblood. We'd need to get back to the camp soon, someone was probably noticing our absence right about now. But there was something I'd been thinking about for a while now, a good handful of months, actually, and I wanted to try to get it off my chest. I was pretty sure I knew what Blue Eyes would say, but I decided it would be better to let him know I'd contemplated the matter than not at all. It would feel like I was keeping some sort of secret from him, and something we strove to keep between us was openness.

"Do you..." He trailed off before I could say anything.

"Do I what?" I asked, prompting him to continue with his question.

"It's nothing." He waved his hand, dismissing the matter.

"No, tell me," I turned in his arms to lay my cheek on his pec, so I could look at his face.

One look into my oddball eyes was all it took for him to know that he wasn't going to get out of it. And I knew him well enough to judge by the look that flicked across his face that he was regretting ever opening his mouth. He knew I wouldn't relent easily.

He quirked his mouth slightly, a sign I'd learned meant that he was figuring out how to approach something. Finally, he sucked in a breath and let out a sigh.

_"Do you ever think about what we're gonna do when the twins are grown?"_ He signed.

I blinked.

One thing my other half tended to do was bring things up right before I did, it was something the both of us had always done, before we were moving out of the boundaries of platonic-ness. It was actually what helped us get over that whole...tenseness we'd initially had and stitched our friendship closer together.

"Um, actually yeah..." I nodded mutely. "Have you thought about it?"

"Lately, yes." He answered quietly.

"Care to share?"

"Well, I was thinking, you know..." He trailed off again, and I held my tongue, allowing him time to gather his thoughts.

After a few moments, he spoke again. "...having another..?"

My eyes snapped up to his face, brows raised. "Really?"

"Well, it was just a thought..." He started, looking like he was on the verge of uncomfortableness.

"No, I mean, I was just above to say that." I spoke up before he could jump to too many conclusions. "You beat me to it. Again."

"Really?" His expression changed from one of an ape who really wished he'd just bitten his tongue, to the countenance of surprise.

I nodded, a smile tugging at my lips as I dropped my gaze again.

Blue Eyes put an arm around my shoulders, silently urging me to relax again on his chest. I complied, but I kept my head inclined upward to watch his face.

"So," I said softly. "You want to have another baby?"

He hummed a confirmation, his fingers running up and down my arm. "If you do. How many do you want? In life, I mean." He added.

"As many as we end up getting." I answered, knowing I had no number in mind. "How many do you want?"

Before I'd had the twins I would have been happy with just one adopted child. I'd be happy with any child to love. But now that we knew that I could carry Blue Eyes' children, I was more than willing to have as many as we could handle.

Child rearing was no easy thing to handle, in fact, it was one of the hardest things I could think of. It had opened a door to a whole new kind of hardships, but it had also shown me the wonders of waking up with a little creation all your own in your arms. Honestly, I loved being a mother, the reward of the unadulterated, unfiltered love children expressed and filled my life with was more than worth the sacrifice of sleep or other little luxuries. But when I looked into my children's beautiful eyes, the toll exhaustion took on me dissipated into mere trifle.

"As many as we can have." He answered.

I hummed. "That sounds good." I cuddled closer to him.

"Sounds exhausting." He sighed, leaning his head back. "But worth it."

"Mmhm." I agreed.

"Blue Eyes!" A voice boomed through the morning woodland, scattering the early birds and no doubt rousing a few. "Raina!"

"Coming!" I called back, my husband calling a few hoots in unison, sending the same message as I had.

I sighed and grabbed the blanket we'd left forgotten on the branch. Blue Eyes, as always, helped me make the final jump down to the ground, catching me around the waist and slinging his arm around me. We walked back, stepping briskly through the damp leaf mold. Soon, we made it back to camp, Malcolm being the first to come into sight. His shoulders visibly sagged with relief at the sight of us.

"There you are," he sighed. "We're just packing up. I'd grab some breakfast while you still can."

"Sorry if we worried you. How's Mom?" I added.

"Focusing on keeping the chill away from Leone. He's still asleep." Dad answered.

"Still? Poor thing must be exhausted." I pouted at the thought of the stress the boy must have been under lately.

With a hum of agreement, my father's face frowned with concern. It was then that I realized that for all this time, he'd been in very close range of Leo, and yet he still hadn't formally met his own son. I wouldn't have doubted it if Leone hadn't even sparred him a side glance given the fact that he didn't know who the man was. My sympathies reached out to my dad at the thought.

Blue Eyes and I moved on, grabbing some more soup from the small cook fire heating it up. As we ate, my mind went back to the conversation in the tree with Blue Eyes. It was hard work raising one child, two had been strenuously difficult, to say the least, and adding a third while the twins were still so young was going to be exhausting. Not to mention, we most likely won't get nearly as much help from Caesar and Cornelia, for soon they would have their own newborn to look after. But now, with my mother returned home, I'm sure she would be more than happy to help, after all, she'd always said how she couldn't wait to baby my future kids.

But would she be able to accept my children if they weren't completely human?

Then again, I knew now that even if I hadn't fallen for an ape, any children I may have had wouldn't have been completely human either.

I couldn't envision it, the notion of being with anyone but my Blue was foreign and alien, and it brought an odd feeling of discomfort in my stomach. I shook the thought away, eager to be rid of the sickened feeling so I could continue my meal.

Returning my thought train back to its previous course, I knew I really shouldn't be so quick to make assumptions and sprout unauthenticated anxieties. I'd learned at least as much from the past. All those insomniac nights of mulling over and stressing over acceptance had been emotionally and physically draining, and then to learn that it all had been for naught... I sighed internally at the thought.

Fifteen minutes later, we were back in the SUV, Liam at the wheel to give poor Graham a break. He'd driven the whole way to my father's colony, the whole way back to OSIRIS with us in tow, and he'd driven the first six or so hours on the escape. And another perk, besides the loyal Brit's well deserved rest, was that when Liam drove, he concentrated. And when he concentrated, he shut up. Which was much better than the off-pitch show tunes we'd had to suffer through on the trip up.

This time around, we had a child inside. The worst thing we had to do now is make good time so we could be home by tomorrow afternoon, and make sure that in the estimated nine hours of road time, Leo didn't get too bored. That didn't seem too daunting, and I was more than happy to get to know the sibling I'd originally believed was lost to me.

Said child was still snoozing in our mother's arms. So, I decided to recline with Blue Eyes again, and we signed back and forth to one another about random things, deciding to save the new baby talk for private. We hadn't talked about when we'd like one, and honestly, if he asked I wouldn't be able to give a very good answer. There were cons to having one right now, but when I thought about the pros that arose from my experience with parenting the twins, they outweighed the cons heavily.

A few hours later, around what must have been nine or ten in the morning, Leone woke up. He was hungry, and still drowsy, and completely adorable about it. So, being the seasoned and prepared mother that she was, Mom had some bread and some lukewarm soup ready for him, and he tiredly ripped off pieces of bread and dipped them in the soup before putting them in his mouth and chewing. However, he was soon up and fascinated with learning to sign.

An endeared smile looped my lips upward as I watched, impressed with what the child already knew. But my easy grin dropped a little when I heard the reason she'd began teaching him. It was so he could talk to Dax.

I didn't know how I was going to tell her. It was going to cripple her, her heart was about to break and it was more than likely that it would be me to deliver the shattering blow. But she had to know. What was I going to say? He's off on vacation? I held back a sigh. I didn't know what I was going to do, and I felt helpless to ease my mother's eminent pain.

My thoughts were interrupted, by a touch on my arm. I looked down to see blue banded eyes blinking up at me. My younger brother's little lips parted, but the words that came out were not in English, but the tongue of our roots.

_"How old are you?"_ He asked.

My brow arched with interest. _"I am twenty. You speak Cherokee very well."_

He giggled happily, his hands coming together to muss with his fingers. _"Mama taught me hand-speak, too."_

At the mention of my third language, I lifted my hands and switched from Cherokee to signing. _"How long has she been teaching you to sign?"_ I signed.

"Um..." He thought about his reply. _"Forever."_ He signed.

So she'd been teaching him since birth... A melancholy grin arose on my face as I pushed away the materializing thought train. I'd wanted to get some quality time with my little brother, here was my quality time.

_"Do you like it?"_ I asked.

_"Signing?"_

_"Yes."_

_"It's fun."_ The child smiled, his eyes twinkling in the filtered sunlight.

_"Do you have a favorite word?"_ I asked.

The boy thought about his answer before finally replying, _"all of them."_

I smiled. _"I have a hard time picking favorites. Have you met my Blue Eyes yet?"_

His aqua banded eyes swerved to the chimp beside me.

"I told you she'd be okay." Leone said.

I arched a brow. "What?"

Blue Eyes gave a small grunt for my attention, and I turned my oddball eyes to him. _"I got angry at Liam when we found out you were missing. I almost hurt him badly, but the boy said something. He said you were going to be fine and that someone was with you."_ He signed.

Jarred by this new information, I turned back to my younger brother. "Did you mean Dr. Milo? How did you know I'd be okay?"

The boy shrugged. "I just knew. Brother said everything would be fine, so I knew nothing bad would happen. Brother was with you."

I glanced to the side, at my mother, and she returned my gaze. "I'm starting to think he may be clairvoyant," Mom murmured. "I thought this 'Brother' person was something his mind made up to help him cope with life in the institute, but now..." She trailed off.

Her next words were in Cherokee. _"I believe this person may be a spirit guide."_

My lips parted as I digested her words. My mind threw my oldest brother's name at me again. I did believe in afterlife and spirit animals and guides, my early upbringing had taught me that, and I'd been open to the ideas my whole life. But to believe that my dead brother was communicating with the youngest of our mother's brood and giving him some sort of insight to things one just cannot know was too painful, too hard to give in to that I couldn't bear to let myself think that.

I looked back at my little brother. He was spectating from my lap, eyes flickering between our mother and I.

_"Do you think Brother is a spirit guide?"_ I asked the child, still using my mother's ancestral speech.

He blinked up at me. "W'll," he started. _"Brother stops the sad. He makes me laugh, and he knows a lot, too."_

But then he started saying random words that made no sense in what he was saying, and at the face he made at his own sentence, I knew he was getting some words mixed up. Which was a very easy thing to do with the Cherokee tongue.

"Cherokee is very hard to speak, would you like to switch back to English now?" I invited, making no real comment on his mistake.

Leone seemed flustered at himself, but complied with my suggestion and continued with what he meant to say. "He helps me sign, and he helps me speak _tsalagi,_ and he keeps me company when I'm alone or when I can't sleep.. So, I guess that means he guides me."

That didn't give a very straightforward answer, but I didn't think I'd be able to get much more from him. My suspicions were growing, and it was threatening to shake my mind up like a snow-globe. I wanted to ask Leo if this brother of his had any trouble hearing, but I wasn't sure if that would give me any solid answers. If this was real and it was my eldest brother Leo was...seeing, then I had no way to know if Dax had his hearing back or not. I didn't think there were deaf people in heaven, at least not if they weren't born deaf.

But I wasn't dead, so I couldn't know.

This wasn't really the time or place to discuss this with Leone, so I'd have to wait until he was settled to bring this up again.

"Where are we going?" Leo asked, bringing me out of my head.

"We're going home." I replied.

"What's it like there?"

"Alexander, you wanna take this one?" I called to the seat in front of me. I hadn't been back to the city since the incident two years ago, and I was aware that many changes had been made under my father's chieftainship. Of course, Alexander had made sure to describe as many of the changes as he could very well, but I didn't have much faith in myself to convey the newly refurbished colony with nearly as much vividness or gusto.

So, my older brother turned around in his seat, and commenced in telling him as much as he could while censoring the appropriate parts, due to Leo's young age. The dark haired boy was enthralled by the way our brother could paint a picture in the mind, and for his sake, I hoped Alexander wasn't exaggerating too much.

Three or four hours later, a roadside just happened to welcome us into a town with a familiar name. It wasn't Chinook, but it was close by and I'd been there before. My mother happened to read that same sign, and announced that she knew where we were.

"Can we stop for a bit after we get passed this?" She called, watching broken buildings pass by.

Graham began to protest, but Liam quickly jumped in, "y'know, I could use a chance to rest that whole hand-eye coordination thing. We've been driving for what, five hours?"

Without any more real objection, Liam continued on until we reached a strip of forest. He found a dirt road, and turned the SUV down it, loose rocks crunching under the heavy duty tires. Fifteen minutes later, he pulled the truck to a stop at what appeared to be a camp site. There were a few blackened fire places strewn here and there, and a homemade looking picnic table sat near the center.

My teeth came down on my lip, feeling that familiar tug at the back of my mind. I followed Lana and Leo out of the vehicle, and looked around at the towering pines and brush growing lushly around us.

"Mom?" I piped up, trying to figure out where exactly I was. Something told me I should know that information.

"Do you remember this place?" She asked me, her dark eyes finding my odd hues.

I shook my head. "I don't know...should I?"

Birdsong filtered down from the canopy, the sound of the leaves swishing in the leaves. Clouds whisked across the sky in thin mists, allowing sunlight to burn patches through the evaporated water.

"We used to come here on Christmas Eve and roast marshmallows, and the elders would tell you children certain stories. Do you remember any of that?" Mom replied.

The memories flashed through my mind's eye, the flickering flame, the shrieking laughter of my cousins, the marshmallows burning my mouth because I was too impatient to wait for them to cool a little before biting into the gooey goodness. I remembered the bite of the snow and the feeling of a furry hat around my ears. An awed breath sucked through me, and as I looked around, I seen flashbacks pulse when I finally figured out where I'd seen everything before. The dug out hearths where brittle, burnt out firewood sat was once alive with orange heat, my grandfather and other older generations taking turns in reminiscing and sharing experiences with the younger members of our community.

"It used to seem...bigger." I murmured distractedly.

I was blinked out of my oncoming reminiscent stupor when a short little body caught my attention. Leone had wandered to the edge of the site, and stood in front of a great white oak tree, staring up at it.

"Leo?" I called, beginning to approach. "Are you alright?"

He didn't answer, and as my concern grew, I heard a collection of feet tailing me. Mom got to him first, her hands resting on his shoulders. "Is something wrong, _usdi tsula_?" She asked.

I paused briefly at the little name. It meant 'little fox', but I pushed aside any wonderings about it and focused on the dazed look in his eye. I glanced at Blue Eyes as he took up his spot beside me, and he showed the same bewildered concern I felt.

"Leo?" I repeated, worried when he still showed no signs of even realizing we were there.

Malcolm crouched in front of him, and waved a hand in front of his face. "Leone?"

"What are they?" The boy's breathless, enchanted voice whispered, his wide, blue banded eyes unblinking.

"They're...trees, babe." Lana answered, seeming a bit surprised by the unexpected to question. "You've seen trees before."

Leo shook his head slowly, refusing to take his eyes off the towering trunk. "Not like this..."

My mind showed me an image of the sparse birch copse and barren fields surrounding the area above OSIRIS. My lips parted, and I thought back to what I was told in the institute. If there were ape genes in me, that must be what gave me my unending love for being in the canopies high up in the air. It must be some deep-rooted instinct carved into me by that genetic information. If that's what happened to me, I didn't doubt that the same passion was laying dormant in Leo, after all, we were both the reproductive products of the same genetic match, and unless they did something to further alter my mother, Leone and I were one and the same.

I nibbled on the inside of my lip, thinking over an idea in my head. No one had ever really taught me how to climb, and though I didn't remember exactly what happened the first time I got myself up a tree, I remember the feeling I always had once I was up there. Because I didn't have anyone to teach me, I had to figure everything out on my own, in that respect. But that didn't have to be the case for my brother.

I understood what it was like to have that unrealistic longing. I remember how strong it was when I was younger, how challenging it seemed not to just up and walk away during a conversation or activity to go up a tree. I'd subconsciously trained myself to control them, albeit it took a very long time and I'd had to do it all by myself. But I could be there for Leo, I could help him understand what was going on, and I could caution him against any bad falls.

So I crouched down beside said brother and placed a hand on his forearm. "Do you want to go up?"

His neck snapped towards me, brows raised and jaw slack. He didn't answer, but his head nodded slowly. I smiled and took his hand, standing straight again. I looked to my mother for permission.

"Be careful." She sighed.

I smirked at her, "I always am. Do you want to come, too?" I added, turning to my husband.

_"I think this is something you two should do on your own."_ He signed, giving a smile in thanks for the invitation.

"Okay, if you change your mind, you know where to find us." I said, before leaning forward and giving his mouth a peck.

"Come on, little bro." I tugged him passed the tall oak, and through the shrubs, out of sight.

"I thought we were going into that tree." Leo piped up, pointing to the long grown oak.

"We are," I replied. "But we can't go right up it, the branches are too high up to start on the ground. We're going to go up a different tree and use the branches to get into the oak."

"What's an oak?"

"It's the name of the tree you were staring at."

"They get names? Who names them all?"

I suppressed a laugh of fondness. "No, no, I'm sorry, I should have said that differently. The trees don't have actual _names_ , but there are names for the types of trees out there. Like, well, you're a human, but your name isn't Human, is it?"

"No, it's Leone."

"Well, it's just like that. Do you understand a little better now?"

"I think so. Do all of them have names?" An inquisitive, excited energy came over him as I scanned the surrounding plant life for an appropriate ladder to the sky. I quickly spotted a good looking sycamore tree nearby, and started searching the branches for a good way to get up.

"What are you doing?" Leo asked, noticing that I hadn't answered his question.

"Hmm? Oh! I'm plotting out the path we'll take before we go up. And to answer your question, I'm sorry, there are many, many different kinds of trees with many different names. Everything around us has a name."

"Whoa..." He murmured, looking around at everything with new wonder. Then his gaze snapped to me. "What's plotting mean?"

I crouched down to his level, pointing upwards as I spoke. "It means I'm looking for the path we have to take to get us safely from this tree back into the oak behind us. You see that branch, the one with the big round knot in it? Once we're in the tree, we're going to follow along it until we get to that spot there, then we'll work upward until we make it to the section where the branches interlock. You see it?"

The boy nodded, lips parted as he digested the plan.

"Don't worry," I said. "It's not as hard as it sounds."

With that, I stood up and encouraged Leone to try and get into the tree himself, curious as to what he would initially think to do. The native child approached the trunk, and stared it up and down for a moment. It wasn't until he was shoving his fingertips and toe-tips into the bark and heaving his weight up did I think to check his shoes.

But there were no shoes to check. He was barefoot.

I gave a gasp. "Don't your feet hurt?"

But he merely grunted a no, and continued until he reached the bowl about four or so feet up. He crawled up and got to his feet. "I did it!"

"Yeah, you did. That was very good." I praised, lifting a knee onto the rim of the 'bowl' and heaving myself quickly up. I'd have to address the shoe thing later.

"Now, can you see how to get up to that branch I pointed out?"

"Um..." He took a moment to observe and think. "Could we use those?"

He pointed to an array of short but think branches reaching up toward the sun. The only problem I could pick out about it was it was on the outside of the trunk, which meant that if someone fell, an inexperienced person wouldn't know to angle their body to catch themselves on another, lower branch. So, I took the precaution of staying below Leo at all times. Steadily, and with surprising confidence, Leo scaled the natural ladder with myself right underneath him.

"Well done," I nodded approvingly at him once he'd reached a safe place to stand. "Now hold still and I'll lift you up onto this one."

I took his small body into my hands and hoisted him upward, onto the knotted bough I'd mentioned earlier. As I pulled myself up after him, I took the chance to ask, "are you tired?"

He shook his head fervently. "Let's go higher!"

I grinned. "Okay. Remember how I showed you? Hang onto this as we walk, I'll be right beside you the whole time."

I watched diligently as he ascended the large bough. Now, we'd made it up maybe fifteen or so feet, we got to an area where branches from the sycamore and from the oak intertwined and braided. While it looked sturdy, I was still mistrustful and cautious.

"Okay, this is the trickiest and most dangerous part. I'm going to make sure it can hold us, then, if it's strong enough, we'll go together."

Leo took one glance down at the ground, then at me. I could see in his earthy and blue irises that he wanted to do it on his own, but something stopped him from protesting. I was glad, I really didn't want to have to explain the fact that this was his first time climbing a real tree, and if he fell, he'd likely break several bones if he was lucky.

Once I showed him how to check the strength of the branches, I let my little brother clamber onto my back. Once I was sure he was securely clinging to me, I held onto his legs and carefully tracked across the suspended makeshift bridge. I set Leo down again once we were beside the trunk.

"Can we see Mama and the others from here?" He asked, trying to peak around the tree's wide girth.

"We can get there, yes. Can you see the path?" I asked, interested to see how he would maneuver himself without my guidance.

I watched the way he clung to the trunk's bark, digging his finger tips in as he tested branches before hopping carefully onto them. He did very well, and I was proud to see he didn't need much help. Soon, we could see the clearing through the foliage, and I pulled back a leaf clustered branch and beckoned Leo closer.

Liam could be seen playing with Astrid, Leah was talking with Alexander and Blue Eyes, and my mother and father spoke close together near the center of the clearing and Graham was sitting at the beat up picnic table writing in some sort of notebook. Once Leo caught sight of our parents, he called out, and I added a whistle to his cries for good measure.

"Is everything alright?" Mom called up, stepping forward.

"This is so much fun! You should come too, _Etsi_." My younger brother called down, his voice high with happiness.

"I can't get as high up as you and your sister, babe." Lana answered.

"But it's easy! Just try."

"Mom, you should of seen him. He did so well, I barely had to help." I called, trying to change the conversational coarse Leo was trying to go down. She didn't need to explain to him like this. I knew I wouldn't want to.

"I can believe it. God knows you were always fearless up there. Don't let him do anything crazy." She crossed her arms lightly over her chest as she worried.

"He'll be fine, I'm watching." I appeased. "He really did do wonderfully for his first time."

"Good job, my _tsula_. I'm proud of you, you know I'm only worried, right?" She called up, and I could tell she was hoping he didn't think she was trying to discourage him.

"I love you, too!" Leo called down, and a big grin stretched my face. The maturity he showed in being able to read the underlying meanings in our mother's words made me proud. Something about him told me he was going to be an exemplary person.

"Hey, how's the view up there?" Alexander called, giving a wave.

"Cool!" Leo chirped back.

With that little factor drawn to attention, he looked up. His jubilant grin dropped in the wake of the awe of the striking sky and treetop painting bestowed before us. His chest rose and fell slowly as he drank everything in, from the clarity of the air to the beautiful mesh of greens swirled below the humbling vastness of the sky above. A breeze blew through the leaves, bringing the scents of life and greenery. Birds flitted across the sky here and there, and continued to fill the air with a musical atmosphere.

An easy grin stretched my lips as I watched my baby brother take in life in its great big beauty and harsh fairness. I couldn't wait to show him the world that awaited him just a mere few hours away. He had a whole lot more to take in.


	15. Chapter 15

 

After giving Leo a brief (and virtually unneeded) talk-through on how to get back to the ground, he got to meet his father. Mom had been praising him for not falling as well as for listening to me, when the boy looked behind her and spotted Malcolm.

Leo stepped out from behind Lana's legs, and fixed Malcolm with that inquisitive stare of his. When Dad realized he had the child's attention, he got down onto his knee and tilted his head slightly, silently inviting the boy invitation to come closer. With hesitant but unafraid steps, Leo approached. Malcolm sat still as stone, his bright, oceanic eyes watching the Cherokee child with a sense of guarded wonder he was obviously trying to hide.

Leone stopped very close to him, and reached up to feel Malcolm's face, like a blind boy tracing the features of an unseen individual. He ran his little fingers over his shadowed jaw, traced the straight bridge of his nose, and finally dug his digits into his father's curly hair, feeling through it. Then his little hands traveled back down to Malcolm's cheeks and paused there, feeling at his stubble. But then, Leo seemed to initiate eye contact. Malcolm's demeanor changed from the inner rattling of nerves, to a calm curiosity much like his young son's.

"Do you know who I am?" Malcolm murmured.

I could see enough of Leone's face to see his cheekbones rise as he smiled.

"Are you my _edoda_?"

I smiled at the word. It meant _Father._ By the look on Dad's face, I knew he understood the word as well. As a side affect of growing up on the same reserve as my mother, he'd picked up on a lot of native words. Just like sign language, he couldn't speak it well at all, but he could understand it when presented to him.

"Yeah," the curly haired man nodded. "I'm your father."

Leo's cheekbones became more defined again as the smile came back over his face, wider this time, and he started bouncing on the balls of his feet. An excited squeal erupted from the native child's throat, followed by a giggle that betrayed his age, before he threw himself at Malcolm. I watched his arms link around the man's neck, and he shoved his face into Dad's nape. At first, our father seemed taken by surprise at the gesture, and it told me Malcolm had expected a more...hesitant, reaction. But Leo seemed quite the opposite.

He looked as happy as a kid on Christmas morning.

Quickly getting over his initial shock, Malcolm wrapped up his boy in his arms, holding him for the very first time.

Then they were left alone, getting some much needed father-son bonding time. That left the rest of us to do as we pleased after all our stuff was accounted for and ready for travel. We all agreed it would be very wise to stay within sight of the camp ground, seeing as we didn't know how persistent the underground facility would be. If we needed to make a getaway, we needed to be able to get going quickly.

So Blue Eyes and I opted for relaxing together in the cool shade of a seemingly ancient tree, cushioned by the moss growing lushly on the ground, coating the roots. Whilst wrapped up in each other's embrace, we decided to talk a little more on the new baby matter. I was perfectly okay with waiting as well as not, and I would go with whatever my husband was most comfortable with. Together, we quickly came to a conclusion.

We would start trying once all of this OSIRIS drama had calmed, and things were back to normal.

Though how long that would take, I was unsure. Another matter I thought to bring up was Sage and River. We didn't know how they would react to the prospect of a new brother or sister, and then there was also the eminent sex talk we'd have to give them. They'd already asked where babies came from, and it had blindsided both my prince and I, so in a state of underlying panic at the abrupt question, we'd simply told them babies came from love.

We weren't one of those parents who told wonderful and dazzling tales about the coming into existence of new life. We were vague with them now due to their age, but once they were old enough, we fully intended to explain the whole sex and love shebang. But now, with a new baby soon to come, Blue Eyes and I were going to have to give that lecture earlier than we originally predicted. One thing that was for sure was that we were going to be completely honest about it with them.

I was brought through a very similar process myself, and I was quite grateful for it. When I was young, I was given un-detailed truths, but as I got older more and more was revealed to me over time. I never had a 'The Talk' experience, and I was more than happy that I hadn't had to go through that awkward experience.

"I wonder how Cornelia's doing." I commented, all this talk of pregnancy bringing the gentle queen to mind. She was due to deliver in a few short months.

"I'm sure she's fine." Blue Eyes murmured back.

"Do you want it to be a boy or a girl?" I asked.

"Who's?"

"Caesar's and Cornelia's."

"Mm..." He paused to think about my question, before shrugging nonchalantly. "I don't mind, either way."

"What about us? Do you want another son or another daughter?"

He paused again, taking his time to think about this question a little more deeply. Finally, he replied, "I don't think I really have a preference. Both sound good to me."

"Shh, don't say it like that. We'll get triplets this time."

"We must never speak of such things." He chided me gravely, before eye contact was made, and we were unable to keep straight faces for any longer.

The sound of our laughter bursting into the air brought the attention of Astrid to us. She came trotting over, pink tongue lolling out of her mouth.

"Hey, girl." I greeted, rubbing her head and ears. "You did really good back at that scary place."

She circled around the tree and flopped herself down onto our entangled legs when she came back to us. Then the big dog stretched her neck up and started licking at my face. A smile stretched my lips as I craned my head away, though I continued to pet her, half heartedly murmuring about how inconvenient her slobbery affection was. Soon, she switched from me to Blue Eyes, and he grunted in discomfort. Soon she stopped, and laid her head down on my belly.

"Aw, isn't she the cutest little thing?" A voice said above us.

I looked up to see Liam walking up. He crouched in front of us and gave Astrid's back a stroke. After I agreed with what he said, things fell silent. The trouble was, I couldn't tell if it was an awkward silence or not. I think it may have been awkward for Liam, what with the way his eyes glued to the ground. I myself didn't find it particularly awkward, I was just waiting for someone to say something. Not a moment after that thought left me, the black haired man spoke up.

"Uhm...I'm sorry." His earthen gaze lifted and caught mine.

I arched an eyebrow, my head quirking naturally to convey my confusion. "For what?"

He glanced at Blue Eyes, but his gaze remained steadily on mine. "Your husband was pretty pissed off when we noticed you were gone. He pointed something out, and I haven't been able to shake it loose. I thought it would go away once we got you back, but it's still here. So, I need to address it head on."

He paused to take a breath. "I was in charge of the team. It was my responsibility to keep all four of you safe, and I failed. I should have known you were gone the minute you were taken, but I didn't. And I'm sorry for that."

I almost didn't know what to say, caught completely off guard by such a sincere apology from the normally clownish, exuberant Elite. The remorseful gleam in his eye made me wonder if this was the same person who'd sang loudly and obnoxiously throughout the beginning of our journey to OSIRIS.

"There's nothing to forgive." I said. "I'm sure you did your best, the objective was to get Leone back, and you did. My foot caught on the tile, it slowed me down enough that I got caught. It was my own fault, not yours. Besides, you did check on me when you heard me trip, so you were doing your job." I added. "I got caught right after that."

Now it was Liam's turn to look stunned. Obviously, that wasn't the answer he was preparing for.

"You look like you expected something else." I commented, petting Astrid's fur as she tried to nap on the legs of myself and my husband.

Liam shrugged. "Well, to be honest, I was kind of expecting Blue to pin me again while you raved at me."

"His name is Blue Eyes, only I get to call him that." I said, hugging said chimp's arm possessively.

Liam huffed out a laugh and nodded, agreeing to leave the name alone. "You got a good one, Blue Eyes. Better hang on to her."

"And before you go thinking that, no, I don't wanna steal her from you. Just puttin' that out there. I seen that glare." He added, before either of us could reply.

"I know." Blue Eyes answered, grabbing hold of my forearm, seeing as both my hands were occupied with keeping their possessive grip on his arm, making it difficult to twine our fingers.

Liam gave one more smile before nodding to Astrid. "Good luck getting her off."

Then he stood up, and walked away.

"Well," I said once he was out of earshot. "That was unexpected."

"I respect him for it." Blue Eyes said. "At first, I thought it was because I scared him. Back at the labs."

"Oh yeah, why'd you do that?" I didn't say it in an upset way, but I was curious to hear how he would respond.

"I allowed your safety into his hands. You got captured." His voice turned hard and low, a glare creasing his countenance.

"I actually restrained myself quite well." His demeanor lightened. "I didn't even slam him that hard."

"Nice, good job." I praised, kissing his cheek. "I'm very proud of you."

Blue Eyes could have very seriously injured Liam, and the fact that he had been able to reel in his temper long enough to avoid long term injuries was good progress. Something Ash had mentioned maybe six or so months after my wedding, was that since I arrived at the village, Blue Eyes had gained much better control over his temper. I remember glimpses of his impulsiveness, and sometimes it still came out for a rare peak at the sun, but according to my ashen furred brother, he had improved greatly. And I was proud of him for that.

* * *

-two hours later-

The truck bumped along the mountain road, leading up to the small parking lot that had formed for the human visitors. Often times they parked all along the road and walked the rest of the way up the trail because of limited vehicle space. At least, the ones with cars did. We'd passed the city all together so Blue Eyes and I could be dropped off at home, seeing as everyone could see how eager we were. The shade of the familiar trees and the sight of the lush undergrowth made Blue Eyes and I even more antsy, knowing just how close we were to our children and friends. It had only been about three or so days since we left, but it felt like a lifetime ago. Half of me expected the twins to be teenagers when we got back.

There was no space in the lot, but Leah backed up in front of a car anyway. With that, we popped the trunk so we could get some of our stuff, and so we could all stretch our legs. We hadn't been in the car for very long, but all of us were tired of sitting and driving for hours on end. As Blue Eyes and I pulled out our things, the familiar shriek of a chimp cut through the air, followed by an even more familiar voice.

"Mother! Father!"

With one glance exchanged between my husband and I, we dropped out things and took off toward the little ball of fur loping toward us, still calling out excitedly.

Sage flew up through the air and right into my arms, and I couldn't hug her fast enough. She was hooting and panting excitedly as I twirled around with her and kissed every inch of her I could reach, loving the soft feel of her fur and the scent of spring and wildflowers that slumbered under her pelt. I pulled my face away with a laugh of pure delight so I could gaze down at my young daughter. As I met those sparkling irises, I couldn't help but kiss the side of her mouth, her happy adorableness was just too much to resist.

"I missed you so much! Have you been good for your grandparents?" I asked, resisting the motherly urge to kiss her again.

"Uh-huh!" Then she hooked her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly again. "I missed you too!"

"Oh, my Sage." I sighed, holding the back of her head with a hand.

I glanced to the side, stepping closer to Blue Eyes as he pressed against my back and reached towards our daughter, checking her over.

"Didn't I tell you we'd be back soon?" I cooed, holding her delicately featured face in one hand.

" _But you were gone forever_!" She signed.

"It seemed like a long time, didn't it?" I agreed. "But we're back now."

"And first thing tomorrow," Blue Eyes added, "we teach you to ride."

_"Can we bring Zira?"_ Sage signed.

I bit the inside of my lip in displeasure. The little chimp just wasn't going to relent until she rode that forest fire of a horse. "We'll see."

Blue Eyes and I exchanged a glance, and a message passed between us. _We'll think about that later_.

Aside from that, I was caught up in the fondness and love that bloomed from the presence of my family. But something caught my attention very quickly. "Where's your brother?"

_"He didn't want to go with us. He's at home."_

_"What were you doing?"_ Sage signed. _"Why'd it take so long?"_

The question brought the other humans behind us to attention. I glanced behind us to find them all moseying around or sitting in the car. My mother, on the other hand, was standing with Leone in her arms, speaking with Malcolm. Then I turned back to my husband, who met my eyes with a knowing look. He nodded his head between Sage and I, then flicked it behind him, gesturing to my mother. I nodded, craning my neck up to give him a quick kiss. Then I turned and walked back toward my mother.

"Are you ready to meet your other grandmother?" I murmured to Sage, giving her a heads up.

"What if she doesn't like me?" She whispered, tucking her face under my chin.

"She'll love you." I replied. "Just be yourself."

"Mother? Will you come with me?" I said, once we were in earshot.

Lana seemed to freeze, her eyes glued to Sage's furry form. But then her eyes slid to mine, and she nodded, handing Leone to Malcolm, murmuring that she'd be back. With that, she followed silently as I turned and made our way to the tree line. When we far enough out of earshot, I stopped and faced the older woman.

Her eyes were already on Sage, and I couldn't gauge the look on her face.

"This is Sage, my daughter." I said, letting her know with my tone that I wasn't going to stand for negativity. Not in front of my daughter. (I knew perfectly well that she already would have withheld straight up anger, but it made me feel better to send the message. I had no clue how she'd react.)

Sage gave a few uncomfortable imps before pulling her head from where she'd hidden herself and peaked at the woman before us. I heard my mother suck in a soft gasp when she caught sight of my baby's eyes.

"Oh my God..." Her whisper was barely audible. "Raina..."

"I told you." I said, adjusting my grip on my child.

"Oh, she's so beautiful..." Lana breathed.

"What do we say?" I murmured.

Still too shy to use her voice, Sage lifted a hand and thanked her through sign. The little chimp let out a gasp when my mother returned a polite, 'you're welcome.' Through the same silent language.

_"You can sign?"_ My daughter gestured, apparently not realizing the woman would know of our language.

_"Yes, I learned right beside your mother."_ Lana replied, smiling at the girl.

_"You are my mother's mother."_ She signed, seeming to gain more confidence through the gestures.

_"Yes, I am."_ Mom said. _"I'm so happy to meet you. What's your name?"_

_"Sage."_ She spelled out.

_"That's a pretty name. I like it."_

Like I had in the beginning, Mom wasn't having much trouble understanding ape sign language, and it fueled my smile to widen. This meeting was going wonderfully.

_"Thank you very much,"_ my baby signed, showing off her good manners. _"What's your name?"_

"Lana. You can call me grandmother, if you like."

_"Are you going to stay with us now?"_ My baby asked.

_"I have a place in the city."_

Just after her last gesture, I glanced over my shoulder at the others, and seen another chimp signing with Blue Eyes. At the sight of her fine features and child-swollen belly, I quickly recognized her as Cornelia. I smiled at the sight of her.

"What were you doing so far from the village?" I asked Sage. "Cornelia?"

_"She said she wanted to see the forest. Uncle Luca came, too."_

At that, I scanned the lot again, and only then took notice of the large lowland gorilla at the front bumper of the truck, signing with Alexander.

"Why come so far out here, though?" I added, the question coming to mind.

She shrugged. "Don't know. I wanted to, I guess."

"It was your idea, then?"

She nodded, her eyes taking on a lovely amber hue. I looked back at my mother.

"Do you want to meet Cornelia now?" I invited. We'd spoken of her a little on the way back, both Blue Eyes and I predicting that they'd get along swimmingly.

With a tentative nod, I took her fingers in my own, and pulled her towards my husband and his mother. Blue Eyes noticed me first, and without missing a beat, took Sage from my offering arm. Then I turned to Cornelia's bright green gaze. I returned her smile and allowed her to pull me into a hug. She breathed my name in a way to convey that she'd missed me. I gave her a gentle squeeze in reciprocation before pulling away and turning to take Lana's hand again.

"This is Lana, my mother." I introduced, and then turned to said woman. "This is Cornelia."

"I've heard so much about you-" both females cut off when they realized that they'd spoken in unison, giggles bubbling out of them.

I smiled and stepped back to stand beside Blue Eyes, leaning on him lightly.

_"It's so wonderful to meet you. Rain always speaks so fondly of you."_ Cornelia signed.

_"And she of you, too. Thank you so much for everything you've done for my daughter."_ Lana replied.

_"No need to thank. You've raised such an outstanding girl, we love her so dearly,"_ the queen replied, and their gestural conversation continued.

I tried to stand there and not blush, but it wasn't working out much. And Blue Eyes made sure to make sure I knew about it.

_"Feeling modest, Rainbird?"_ He teased.

_"Mother, are you blushing?"_ Sage grinned, following in her father's example.

_"Both of you, hush."_ I signed, trying not to look flustered as the two females continued to speak of me. Cornelia was practically painting me in gold and placing me on a pedestal, and honestly, I felt it was a bit much. I couldn't tell if she was just reassuring my mother that I'd turned out well or if she truly meant all she was saying.

Both of my endearing chimps tittered, doing a terrible job at hiding it. I looked up at Blue Eyes.

_"I blame you for this."_

_"Not just me. They get that from both of us."_

"He's not wrong." A new voice cut in, deeply baritone and resonating. We looked up to see a large gorilla walking up, and I smiled at the sight of him.

"Luca!" I giggled in greeting, accepting his invitation for a hug.

He and Blue Eyes reached forward and held each other's forearms, their heads both inclining to the other.

_"I trust all went well?"_ The large ape signed.

_"Luckily,"_ Blue Eyes replied after an exchanged glance between us.

_"The child, and this new woman, they are..?"_ He looked to me as he trailed off.

_"My new little brother, and my mother."_ I nodded, a burst of happiness sparking into my stomach at the thought of them.

_"They live after all!"_

I giggled and nodded, his excited movements rubbing off even more happiness on me.

_"How have things at home been?"_ Blue Eyes asked.

_"Well."_ Luca nodded, then his pine colored eyes slid to me. _"Children missed you."_

_"Speaking of,"_ I smiled. _"How's Cali doing?"_

Luca's wife, Calima, more well known as Cali, was expecting their first child. She was in the early stages, but she was beginning to show the last time I'd seen her, not long before my father showed up with the three ex-OSIRIS employees. I'd met her in the gardens, planting being something she had a passionate hobby for. She was good at it, handling every herb and crop delicately with her experienced hands. She was kind, but she wasn't afraid to speak her mind. It gave her a spunkiness about her that I was sure Luca liked.

_"Fairing well. She's been having mood swings, though."_

"Good luck." I laughed, not wanting to imagine being on the receiving end of a bad mood.

_"I need all of it I can get."_ Luca sighed with a smile.

After a bit more catching up, time was called. It was time for Blue Eyes and I to return home, but, seeing as how well our mothers were getting along, as well Cornelia's natural politeness, Lana was invited to join us to the colony. Alex decided to tag along, unenthusiastic to report back in and start work at the city again. I didn't know what he was talking about, surely he'd get the rest of the day off before starting work again. But he came along anyway, and I wasn't going to complain.

The walk through the forest was wonderful. It felt so good to be back under the familiar titanous canopies, exploding with life everywhere the eye can see. The wet gleam from the night's rainfall made everything shine and twinkle, and it brought out the scents of the forest. I watched Blue Eyes and Sage play with each other, goofing about and joking while she rode on his back, a smile playing on my lips.

I watched my mother, her head turning this way and that as she took in the beauty of my home. For a moment a part of me wondered if she would prefer to live with us in the village, but I knew she would want to stay with Malcolm and Alexander in the city. I suspected that as soon as she could, she would return to the hospital, to pick up where she left off.

That led me to wonder where Leah, Graham, and Liam were going to go. I think Mom, and Dad and Alexander assumed they would stay in the city, but they hadn't said anything yet. I quickly derailed that thought train, preferring to revel in my relief to be home again.

It felt so good to have my baby back in my arms where she belonged. I could tell Blue Eyes felt the same relief I did, and we shared a happy smile. Both of us were eager to see River when we got home.

When we finally reached the Gates, Lana stopped in her tracks. I paused to witness her initial reaction, and smiled at the look of amazement that came over her as she took in the rebuilt massiveness of the Gates. I approached and stood just behind her shoulder.

"Awesome, isn't it?" I said.

She gave a small jump, which told me she had been focusing too much on taking in the impressiveness to hear my approach. "It's...amazing..."

"Wait for it. It gets even better." I grinned, giving her arm a tug as I continued on my way inside.

As we walked down the trench-like open corridor, I could hear the Gorilla Guards shifting around inside their shelters. Soon after I acknowledged the sounds, said apes started emerging. I smiled and greeted as I passed, happy to see welcoming smiles on their faces.

"Prince Blue Eyes, Rain, you're back!" Wes grinned happily as he approached.

"Wes!" My husband and I chimed, stepping toward the large gorilla.

Wes and Blue Eyes laid their hands on each other's shoulders and gave a quick bro-hug type greeting. Then it was my turn and I got a quick, tight bear hug from the friendly ape.

_"So it's true? Your mother is alive?"_ He signed excitedly when he took notice of Lana.

I nodded and turned to said woman. "Mom, come meet my friend. This is Wes," I stepped aside so they could see each other better. "Wes, this is Lana, my mom."

"Nice to meet you." She nodded politely, obviously feeling a bit shy.

"You too." He returned, nodding and giving a polite smile.

"Come, we need to see Caesar." Cornelia piped, her voice a mellifluous surprise. She didn't speak aloud all that often.

The prospect of seeing the revered ape pushed us to say goodbye to Wes and continue into the village. When we emerged into the main courtyard, we found it teeming with apes, humans mingling here and there. We were recognized again, and sent quick, happy greetings as we passed by. We found Caesar up on his boulder, talking closely with Haze.

Blue Eyes let out a hoot to alert the two chimps of our presence, and as soon as Haze registered who we were, his face split into a wide smile, and with a joyous shriek he threw himself at his brother. The force of his attack sent Blue Eyes back a step or two, but he hugged his younger brother back with an amused chuckle. Haze gave Blue Eyes' abdomen one more noticeable squeeze before pulling back enough to look up at his face.

"You're back!" The younger chimp's voice cracked with excitement.

Blue Eyes didn't reply, but he nodded and gave Haze's shoulder blade a fond rub. Then the ever enthusiastic ape gasped and his face swiveled to me.

"Rain!" He shouted, throwing himself at me next. After two years of experience, I was ready for him, though his momentum sent us staggering for a moment. I laughed and was quick to hug him back, leaning down to lay my head on top of his for a moment before we pulled apart, though we didn't leave each other's arms.

"Hey Haze. I missed you." I smiled, happy to see his green irises and happy aura again.

"I missed you too!" He was practically trembling with excitement. Right away he started firing off questions about where we were and what was it like and what happened, question after question. His speech started getting stuttered and little noises started working their way into his sentences, and I could do nothing but grin and listen to his easily figured out jabbering.

"Easy, brother. Keep speaking like that and your tongue will fall off." Blue Eyes cut in, placing a hand in Haze's clavicle, as if that would make him slow down.

"That won't happen." Haze said, quirking his mouth not unlike the way Blue Eyes did, and gave his brother a mild glare.

"Son," a voice spoke up, and our attention was drawn to Caesar.

Cornelia stood by his side, her baby bump showing just slightly at the angle she stood at. Caesar had a small smile on his face when he seen that we were both unharmed, and Blue Eyes was quick to approach him.

"Father," he nodded before the two laid their foreheads against one another.

When they pulled away, the king turned to me, his arms opening in an inviting hug. I stepped into it, feeling like a weight has been lifted from my chest now that I was home and safe with my family.

"It's so good to be home." I sighed as we pulled away.

"So good to have you back." Caesar returned, placing a hand on both mine and Blue Eyes' biceps. "What happened?"

My husband looked to me, and I gave a smile before holding up a hand in a 'wait here a moment' gesture. I turned and made my way back down the boulder, to where my human family waited. I pulled my mother up the rock, murmuring that she was going to meet someone important. She nodded and allowed me to tug her along.

"This is Caesar, my father in law," I said to the native woman, then I turned to the revered ape. "This is my mother, Lana."

His face lifted at the realization. "Good to finally meet you."

They shook hands, and judging by mom's expression, she was glad for the kind greetings she'd received. "It's nice to meet you, too."

When they finished exchanging pleasantries, Cornelia spoke up and offered to give her a quick tour of the village. Though she seemed a bit nervous to go without any of the people she was familiar with, Lana allowed herself to be shown around. When she was gone, Caesar turned to us.

_"You want to know what happened."_ Blue Eyes signed before Caesar could speak again.

The large ape nodded. _"Not right now. You should go see your son, he's taking a nap in your hollow. Come see me when you're settled in again."_

We thanked him, and with that, Blue Eyes and I broke off to go see our child, while the rest did their own thing. When we slipped past the familiar vine curtain, we found River to be in the hammock Blue Eyes and I shared, and not his own. He was bundled up in the warm furs we slept in on cold nights, sound asleep. A smile tugged at my lips as I gazed down at my beloved firstborn. He looked somehow smaller when he slept, younger, more vulnerable. The toughness children naturally had so they could handle the world around them was absent from my son in his slumber, and it caused a motherly love to swell in my heart to be reminded that he still needed my care.

Blue Eyes and I carefully sat down on each side of him, making sure the hammock didn't rock too much. My handsome ape's eyes found mine, and we smiled at each other, leaning forward to lay out temples over one another as we gazed back down at our little creation.

"River." I cooed softly, but the child did not stir.

"River." Blue Eyes whispered. "River."

Now the chimp stirred, his sea colored eyes fluttered open, and he gave a few tired imps in rebuke for waking him before the sleep cleared and he registered just who it was who disturbed him.

"Mother..? Father?!" He rasped, slumber making his voice hoarse as he tried to sit himself up.

We beamed at him, and with an excited shriek, River flung himself at us. He seemed to be torn between who he wanted to hug first, but his arms soon found themselves linked around his father's neck. He was panting and hooting and imping with excitement, his sleepiness forgotten. He spent a long minute just panting and giving Blue Eyes' throat some rough nuzzles.

Without losing any of his vigor, he attached himself to me, digging his face into my hair and making his excited sounds. I laughed and hugged my baby close, happily surprised by such an enthusiastic reunion. It made me smile when I thought about how much Sage had restrained herself compared to her older brother's zealous reaction.

When he had calmed enough to speak again, he seemed to have trouble with what to say first. So, Blue Eyes and I did it for him.

"Told you we'd be back soon." I said, cupping his shoulder in my palm.

"But you were gone _forever!_ " He exclaimed.

_"Only four days."_ I said and signed.

"That's a really long time." My son said, almost pouting.

"Well we're back now." Blue Eyes said. "Now guess what we are doing tomorrow?"

River took a moment to think about, then his face lit up with excitement. "Riding lessons?"

At his father's nod, my beautiful little chimp gave a burst of happy laughter, his shoulders shaking up and down. The sound of it made a warmth swell within me, and I looked to my husband, thinking about how similar our son's laugh sounded to his. Feeling my gaze, my bright eyed prince turned to look at me, giving an inquisitive look. I just shook my head and turned back to our son.

_"You have your father's laugh."_ I signed.

_"I do?"_

I nodded. "Why were you sleeping? It's late."

_"I woke up too early and I could not fall back asleep. I was tired."_ River signed.

_"Do you want us to let you sleep some more?"_ I gestured.

He shook his head, and hopped into Blue Eyes' hands. "I'm awake now."

"Mom?" River piped. I hummed in response, waiting for his next words.

"Did you find who you were looking for?"

Blue Eyes and I exchanged a glance. We hadn't told them that we were going to get someone, all we'd said was that there was something important we had to go away to help Malcolm with.

"How'd you know we were looking for someone?" I asked.

"Sage said."

"How did she know?" Blue Eyes asked, looking down at our son's blue-green eyes.

River shrugged and lifted his hands to sign. _"She had a dream. Grandmother said you went looking for someone you used to know."_

Blue Eyes and I exchanged another glance. In his eyes I could see the same confusion I felt. Maybe she'd had a premonition?

"Did Grandmother say who we were looking for?" I asked.

He shook his head, giving a grunt.

"Well, would you like to meet them?" I asked.

He tilted his head. "Who are they?"

"My mother, and my younger brother."

_"I thought you said you didn't have one anymore."_ River signed.

"I didn't think I did. But some people came and said that she was alive and they knew where she was." I explained.

_"Does Uncle Alexander know you have another brother?"_

"Yes, he does." I smiled.

_"Does Uncle Dax?"_

My smile faded, and I nodded. "I think he does. But you mustn't bring up Uncle Dax in front of them. Not yet."

"Why not?" His brow furrowed in a confused glare, a habit he picked up from his father.

"She doesn't know what happened to him yet. I haven't told her." I answered.

_"But shouldn't she know?"_ The young chimp signed. I nodded in answer to his question, but before I could speak again he continued signing.

_"Why haven't you told her?"_

I saw Blue Eyes getting ready to steer him off the topic subject, so I interjected before he could.

"It's really hard. She's going to be hurt and I don't want to hurt her. You're right though, she should know. I'm working on it."

River shifted from Blue Eyes' arms and into mine. "If it's really hard, can't you get help?"

After a moment's pause to consider River's words, I nodded. "Yeah, I can ask for help."

"Do you want to meet your grandmother?" Blue Eyes murmured after catching my subtle hint that let him know he could change the subject now.

River nodded up at his father, and with an arm looped around my waist Blue Eyes led us out past our vine curtain door. It felt so good to feel the vegetation slide over my arms once more, though I'd only been gone a few days, it felt like years. Inwardly, I snorted at the thought. If that's how I felt after such a short time, I wonder how my mother must feel. She'd been through so much, and there was still more she needed to endure.

I pushed away that thought train before it could begin, I didn't need to sadden myself. I took River's words into consideration. He was right, the burden of telling Lana about Dax didn't have to fall on my shoulders alone. I didn't want to ask my father, I remembered the way he reacted when I told him about the sickness that took my brother, his son. I remember being so confused at Malcolm's initial reaction, dropping to his knees and quivering in despair. If only I'd known I was telling him his first born son was gone.

I didn't want him to go through that again, but I felt that he would be able to help Lana through it, as he knew almost exactly what she would feel. Alexander was a maybe on this one. He was good at consoling people, but I wasn't sure he'd know what to say to her after Lana learned the truth. And honestly I didn't want to put him in that position. Aunt Ellie was a good candidate to consider as well.

She had a calming affect on people, and she had experience with these kinds of things. Not to mention the fact that she was a mother once herself, and she would have good insight as to how to handle a grieving mother. Ellie was naturally motherly as well, and I felt that that would be good for Lana.

So, with a lighter heart, Blue Eyes and I began the search to wherever Cornelia's tour had taken Lana and herself.

* * *

 

**Please don't hate me!! I meant to get this out so much sooner. Life really isn't getting all that much better, plus trying to trudge through school with depression (which I finally admit to having) and anxiety. I'm going to do my best to get the next chapter out. I love you guys so much, reviews always make me smile, and you guys deserve frequent updates. I'm working on it, see you soon hopefully :)**


	16. Chapter 16

When I awoke the next morning, the hollow was dark and I was curled in Blue Eyes' warm embrace. My back pressed close, I could feel his chest expand and deflate as he breathed. Judging by the lack of light, dawn wouldn't come for a little while yet. So I carefully began to turn my body over, but my movement caused Blue Eyes to stir. He didn't wake, but he rolled over onto his back, taking me with him. I had no complaints as I adjusted myself and hugged his hard torso, laying my head on the juncture of his shoulder. Feeling warm and comfortable, I drifted back to sleep.  
  
XxXxX  
  
"Wake up! Come on, up, up!"  
  
I groaned and felt the ape beside me turn back to his side, clutching me to his chest with his own unhappy huff at the disturbance.  
  
"Mother, Father," Sage whined. "It's morning, we need to go."  
  
And then realization dawned on me.  
  
Riding lessons.  
  
Blue Eyes attempted to mumble something, but in his tired, mostly asleep state, all that came out was a slightly strangled sounding moan of sad annoyance.  
  
"Babe," I groaned groggily, half heartedly shaking my husband with a hand on his unscarred pectoral. "Get up, we needta teach them how to ride horses."  
  
"Ssshh, if we go back to sleep, they will too." He replied, his husky morning voice causing sending a routine pleasant feeling to my head.  
  
I blinked away the sleep the sound encouraged and propped myself up on an elbow. I ducked down to kiss the area underneath his jawline. "We promised."  
  
Blue Eyes reached up a hand and cupped my cheek, cracking his drowsy eyes open, and made a dramatic display of leaning over and loudly whispering. "Are you sure?"  
  
I grinned and nodded. "Yes."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Father, you promised!" River cut in, crawling up onto the large chimp's broad chest.  
  
Blue Eyes looked at River and arched a brow, contemplating the concept. Then he shrugged and nodded. "So I did."  
  
"Can we go now?" Sage asked, before she and her brother pressed themselves close to each other's sides and lifted their hands under their chins, each of them with their fingers laced in a begging manner.  
  
"Please?" They dragged out the word, long and hopeful and pleading as they tried to appeal to us.  
  
Blue Eyes and I exchanged a glance, and then turned back to our children. _"Alright. We'll get ready to go after breakfast."_    
  
They squealed with happiness and shrieked as they threw themselves at us, hugging us tightly in a display of gratitude and excitement. I gave an affectionate hum as I hugged Sage back before they both dashed out of the hollow, saying something about seeing us soon. I heaved a big sigh and dropped back down onto my back, the hammock swinging underneath me.  
  
"You know she's gonna ask for Zira." I sighed.  
  
_"I know. You know Zira best, do you think she'll be safe on her?"_ Blue Eyes signed.   
  
"I know that Zira wouldn't intentionally hurt either of them. But she has so much energy. I don't know if I can rely on her not to dash off or try to take the reins herself." I replied. "But at the same time, she's a smart horse, and she's always been gentle with them both. She's surprised me that way before, but I don't know if I want to take the risk."  
  
"Maybe it's not a good idea then." He answered.  
  
"Yeah. She's gonna be unhappy with it." I sighed tiredly.  
  
"She can deal with it." Blue Eyes replied, saying just what I had been thinking.  
  
With that, we got up and I got dressed, wearing a homemade top and a pair of jeans Ellie had donated. I'd really gotten the hang of making clothes out of natural materials, and I quite liked the results I got. Ellie still brought me things every now and then when she found something my size that she thought I'd like. She did pretty well in that respect.  
  
After a quick grooming session, and Blue Eyes' bedhead was under control, we went out into the sunlight. It was fairly early, and apes were tucking down to eat. A soft breeze blew, bringing the scent of roasting meat our way. We sat down after acquiring our food, and we'd just starting to eat when Ash and Dana joined us. We'd seen them yesterday, while we were still looking for Lana and Cornelia so River could meet his maternal grandmother.  
  
The reunion had been childish to say the least. All of us had ended up lighting up with joy when we realized who we were looking at, though I had to say Dana and I were probably worse than Ash and Blue Eyes. She and I had thrown ourselves at each other, babbling about how happy we were to see each other, hugging and waddling around in each other's arms and kissing each other's cheeks.  
  
Our husbands tried to be more nonchalant about it, but they were obviously ecstatic to see each other and hugged tightly before they brought their foreheads together. They talked animatedly as Dana and I carried out our affectionate reunion. Then we'd swapped and hugged again, none of us losing any enthusiasm. To say we were a bit of a tight knit group was an accurate statement.  
  
"Hey guys." I greeted. "Where's Zinny?"  
  
"With Emory. I think the twins are with them, too." Dana answered.  
  
"You'd think they'd be inhaling their food. We told them we'd start their riding lessons after breakfast." I commented.  
  
_"They probably already have, if they've taken after their favorite uncle."_ Ash said and signed.   
  
"Ash, don't you jinx us." I replied, bringing a piece of lettuce to my mouth. "I don't need my little ones eating like teenagers just yet, and knowing Blue, River will have an appetite great enough to eat the whole buffet table."  
  
"Growing boy's gotta eat." Ash replied with a smirk.  
  
"Is that why you eat so much?" Dana said, grinning at her husband.  
  
Ash mumbled something I was pretty sure were along the lines of _"you never seem to complain when it's you I'm eating..."_  
  
Judging by Dana's amused-disguised-as-mortified snort, I wasn't too far off target. I smirked and continued to eat while enjoying my friends' company. Sage and River quickly found us though, hopping around and asking over and over about whether or not we were done eating.  
  
"Okay, okay, hold on." I waved a hand for calm.  
  
_"Go see Lisa and tell her what we're doing, she'll give you what we need."_ Blue Eyes signed. _"Go."_    
  
The children rushed off, nearly knocking down several apes and a human or two as they raced toward the paddocks where they'd be more than likely find Ash's sister.  
  
"Good luck." Ash grunted.  
  
"We'll need it." Blue Eyes sighed.  
  
I smiled, remembering a similar conversation between him and Caesar, the day after the twins were born. We quickly finished our food and started toward the paddocks, bidding goodbye to our friends. We made it to the paddock, and I quickly gave a whistle, one I only used to beckon Zira and Konrad to me. (I was also training them to answer to a birdcall whistle like some Native Americans once did, but they were still getting the hang of that.) I was about to whistle again when I noticed the herd parting, and two large animals came trotting out of the ranks. What caught my eye was the fact that the two horses were walking side by side, their flanks brushing at every other step as they came toward us.  
  
I arched a brow and a wide smile stretched my face. "Zira, look at you. You're actually letting him touch you?" My happy coo was coupled with some good pats on her broad neck and a scratch under her chin.  
  
"And what about you, my big, handsome boy? Finally tamed her fire, huh? How'd you do it?" I added, turned to Konrad as he began nosing around my head, grabbing locks of my hair in his large lips.  
  
Keeping one hand under Zira's chin, scratching to keep her happy, I hugged Konrad's huge face, pressing my nose and forehead to the broad bridge of his blazed snout. "Huh? How'd you do it?" I repeated, purely in an attempt to let them both know I was happy to see them.  
  
I'd visited them yesterday, and while Konrad seemed eager to see me, Zira gave me the cold shoulder. It had taken a lot of bribing to get her to allow me to even touch her, but once she did, I didn't let up on the chin scratching. She didn't seem to think it was too much trouble to forgive me, so long as I didn't stop running my fingers under her chin. I felt bad that she seemed to have taken my impromptu trip without her so personally. Though I'd be lying if I said that I didn't find it endearing.  
  
I paused when I heard Blue Eyes grumbling under his breath. In response, I turned my face to look at him and hummed, silently asking for him to repeat himself.  
  
"Thought I was your big handsome boy." He grumbled almost dejectedly.  
  
My lips immediately hooked upward in a smile. "You're my big handsome bear boy."  
  
Before he could give a mock scoff, I silenced him with a peck to the mouth. Zira snorted and motored her lips, then shook out her mane. She finished the little display with her neck arched and her ears bent back in disapproval.  
  
"Why do you dislike him so much? He's not that bad." I murmured to the gorgeous silver mare, perplexed at her common reaction whenever I gave Blue Eyes any form of positive attention in her presence.  
  
"I have a theory." A familiar voice spoke up before Blue Eyes could ask what I meant by 'not that bad.'  
  
Once Lisa and I greeted each other, and she and Blue Eyes had exchanged the disdainful at best acknowledgements of each other that was entailed in their recent uprising of sibling rivalry, she lifted her hands and started signing.  
  
_"She can see how much you love him. Zira is jealous."_   She signed, referring to the chimp beside me.  
  
"But she's always been like this. Since before I realized I have feelings for him." I replied, stroking Zira's neck and rubbing Konrad's large cheek.  
  
"Everyone  _realized before you two idiots did_." She replied humorously. " _Zira might have been the first to see the connection_."   
  
"We told the twins to go to you. Where are they?" Blue Eyes interrupted, drawing my attention to the absence of our children.  
  
" _What did I ever do to deserve a dirty sneak attack like that?_ " Lisa mocked a glare. " _I passed them on to Thade. They should show up any moment."_  
  
And just like that, as if her words were a summons, the laughter of my children reached my ears, accompanied by Thade's gruff huffing. I turned to see him walking up with two blankets in his arms, as well as some saddlebags slung over his shoulders. Sage and River were doing their part to make walking difficult for him as he made his way towards us, _imping_ as they signed.  
  
A smile tugged at my lips when I seen Lisa's over-satisfied grin at the sight of her struggling husband. While Blue Eyes was quick to help relieve Thade's workload. I did my part as well, and called my children away. They were quick to find entertainment in greeting Zira and Konrad. I kept an eye on them as Lisa and I began conversing with our hands.

_"Do you have any preferred horses for them?"_ Lisa asked.   
  
_"Sage wants to take Zira, but it's too unpredictable. I wish I could but..."_ I frowned and gave a small shrug.   
  
_"I understand."_ Lisa nodded.   
  
_"Do you have any recommendations? I've been so busy worrying about whether or not to take my Zira with us that I forgot to think about who we_ should _take."_    
  
The green-eyed female paused to think about the question. _"I've got a docile stallion and an older mare that are good for teaching children. Though they're both Clydesdales. If you want smaller then there are a pony and another mare that are also suited for beginners."_    
  
I nodded. _"Can we get them all in a corral? See who takes to the each of them best?"_    
  
_"Yeah, I'll round them up now."_

I thanked her, she turned, and before she left, she let Thade know what she was doing.   
  
The short-fused chimp nodded and left with a short farewell to Blue Eyes and a nod to me, his armful slung over the rail of the pasture. I leaned against the fence and called my daughter's name. When I met her unique eyes, I beckoned her over with a finger. When she got to me, she climbed up and sat down on the fence so she could be level with my face.  
  
" _So can we take Zira?_ " She signed, getting right to the point.   
  
I shook my head with a sigh. " _Not this time._ "   
  
Her face lit up with dismay. "But why?"  
  
"She is too strong-willed. She's not suited for beginners, this is your first lesson." I answered. "I need to make sure you know how to handle a horse before I let either of you on her back."  
  
"But you got to learn on her!" She cried indignantly.  
  
"I had to. Zira _bullied_  any other horse I tried to learn on, she was beating up innocent horses, she wouldn't _allow_  me to ride anyone else." I did my best to keep my voice calm, it wouldn't fare well for this conversation if my voice rose. "It's why I haven't ridden Konrad. Zira messes with him enough, I don't want him to get hurt. Just as I don't want you or your brother to get hurt."  
  
Sage opened her mouth for a no doubt haughty reply but I held up a hand for silence. "You will ride her one day. I promise. But not while you're inexperienced. I've asked Lisa to bring her choices for you two, so learn quickly and soon you'll be riding Zira through the fields for hours. Alright, my _woya?"_  I lowered my voice from the stern tone I'd taken up to a gentle coo.  
  
The young chimp didn't look happy, her eyes were downcast as she thought over my words carefully. Soon she sucked in a sigh and nodded. _"Alright."_    
  
"Thank you for understanding, babe." I held back a sigh.  
  
She nodded, her gaze downcast, a forlorn air about her.  
  
As the conversation concluded, the dull thud of hooves on earth caught our attention. Lisa and another orangutan I knew led two horses each to the coral I'd previously segregated Zira to. The orangutan led a traditionally colored Clydesdale stallion and a big, dark brown mare with white stockings and a thick blaze up her face. Lisa led a pony and a graceful mare with one white sock on her front left hoof.  
  
The pairs were placed in the corral, and Lisa turned and beckoned the twins. _"Come here, you two."_    
  
Sage and River were quickly at her side, Blue Eyes and I following behind them. The twins climbed up the fence and stood with their arms tucked loosely around the top beam to hang on as they gazed at the horses.  
  
_"Spend your time with them, see who you like."_ Lisa instructed. _"Don't pick one because you think it's pretty, you need to like the horse itself, it's the horse you'll be riding, not their coat color. Understand?"_  
  
They nodded obediently.  
  
"Good. I'll be around there, take all the time you need." The chimp said, and when she heard the agreeing replies she bid the family goodbye and walked off to her pointed out destination.  
  
It was needless to say that Sage was incredibly reluctant, and she initially showed disinterest in the horses standing and sniffing for their attention. River, however, seemed happy to go about greeting them all and getting to know them. Blue Eyes and I sat back and hung out on the sidelines, keeping a watchful eye on the horses and children alike.  
  
The stallion Lisa spoke of was quickly becoming favored by River, for he kept reaching out with his lips to grapple at the young boy's ear. He would jerk his head away, but he never moved from his perch, which told me he didn't mind much. As I was watching my son interact with a possible new partner, Blue Eyes nudged me with his elbow and pointed to Sage.  
  
It seemed the pony was winning her over, and had managed to make her smile.  
  
In the end, River chose the Clydesdale stallion called Donner, and Sage, the pony with the name Embarr. I was pleased to see that Sage's displeasure seemed forgotten, and helped Blue Eyes load the saddles and such onto the chosen mounts. Then we hopped atop our own horses, and pulled one child up to sit in front of us. Both whined in exasperation.  
  
"Why can't we get on them?" They gestured to their new companions.  
  
"Because we're taking you to the field where you'll learn."  
  
"You can ride them when we get there."  
  
And with that, we were off, leading Donner and Embarr by the reins. As we made our way through the village, children ran and laughed around all four horses' hooves, and I was pleased to see the two newcomers didn't startle easily. We made it through the gates and traveled down the worn path, taking the well-trodden trail toward our valley. We'd decided to call it Valley Fall, since the waterfall in the caverns was a very sentimental spot for my little family, though the children didn't know it.  
  
After carefully helping the horses pick their way down the rocky slope, the twins were allowed to run through the grass to the boulder Blue Eyes picked out. While they waited impatiently, my husband and I were quick to let Zira and Cloud, Blue Eyes' horse, roam freely while walking Donner and Embarr to the children.  
  
"Okay guys, ground rules." I said as we reached them.  
  
_"We know you're excited, but you need to be patient."_ Blue Eyes continued silently. _"If you rush, you and the horses could get hurt, so keep your energy in check, okay?"_  
  
Sage began to bob her head rapidly up and down, but River quickly slapped a hand on top of his sister's head and gave her a stern look before flipping a more casual grin to us.  
  
_"We understand."_ He gestured.   
  
And so training began. It was slow going at first, but soon enough, the children calmed themselves enough to throw themselves into focus. Sage was excelling, but River had discovered he wasn't as confidant as he thought he was. He feared falling, and when inertia made him move back whenever he took the horse out of a standstill he startled.  
  
Blue Eyes quickly took the situation into his own hands, sending me away to supervise Sage so he could have some time alone with our son.  
  
I didn't know what my husband said, but River's unease began to slowly fade away.  
  
When we were sure the twins had memorized how to read their mounts and had gotten a good hold on guiding and staying on, we called it a day.  
  
While they complained about how they wanted to stay and learn more, Blue Eyes and I both knew it was best to give them small lessons day by day. Giving them too much information at once wouldn't be beneficiary, no matter how much they denied feeling overwhelmed. We both felt that they'd retain their lessons easier this way.  
  
The children were allowed to ride alongside us on Embarr and Donner during the return trip, with the exception of getting them out of the valley and into the forest again. But once we'd reached the base of the mountain, the children quickly hopped back into place atop their withers.  
  
The journey back home felt light. Blue Eyes and I basked in our children's excitement as they went on and on about how they couldn't wait to master the skill and start joining us on our outings. While that was still a ways off, both of us encouraged the twins' enthusiasm.  
  
However, nothing good could last too long, could it?  
  
As we entered the village, a sudden feeling made my stomach lurch. A moment later, I locked eyes with my brother from his place atop a rock with a book in his hand. He stood up at the sight of us and quickly made his way towards over with purpose in his step. He'd been waiting for us, I realized.  
  
"Is something wrong, Alex?" I frowned.  
  
"Ah, we should talk..." His dark eyes flicked over my family. The sinking feeling in my gut worsened.  
  
I blinked when Alex responded to River's gesturing, assuring the child there was nothing for him to worry about. I picked up Sage and sent her to Blue Eyes, the little girl pressed herself to her father's back. I could see her worry and confusion in the way she twined her fingers into Blue Eyes' fur.  
  
"Will you put Zira away for me?" Was all I said to my husband before I slid off the horse's back and began leading Alexander away.  
  
When the vegetation swished closed behind us in Home Tree's hollow, I turned on my brother with arms crossed over my chest. "What's going on?"  
  
"Dad took Lana to Dax's grave." He replied.  
  
I paused as I processed the information. A dampened sense of calm took over, quelling the initial wave of anxiety that washed over me. Dad was right to tell her, and I knew I should have been the one to let my mother know. But it seemed my father had worked up the nerve before I could.  
  
She would be so heartbroken. I didn't know how I'd be able to help her.  
  
I licked my lips. "How long ago?"  
  
"They're probably just getting there. I don't know if Dad told her beforehand."  
  
"Great." I sighed.  
  
"He said you shouldn't have to say it again," Alex said. "Before he left."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You told Dax what Drake said about Lana being dead, right? Dad didn't want you to have to do that again."  
  
I sighed. "I should have, though. She thought he would be here waiting for her-" the words suddenly hitched in my throat.  
  
The feeling of being ambushed came along with the rogue wave of emotion. I blinked quickly, moisture wavering thickly on my lashes. My teeth found my lip as my arms wrapped around myself.  
  
"Hey, Rain..." Alex murmured, stepping forward with his arms raised in offering.  
  
I moved forward and took comfort in my brother's embrace. I didn't let it last long though, and wrenched myself away from him before the tears could wash whatever will was holding me together.  
  
"It's gonna be okay," Alexander tried.  
  
"She's gonna be so heartbroken!" I breathed. "I can't imagine how I would feel if it were me and River. Oh, _God,_ Alex, I don't know what to do!"  
  
The dam broke slowly as the words kept flowing, and Alexander quickly hugged me again, leading me to sit down beside the cold hearth.  
  
"It's gonna be okay, alright, look." He rubbed up and down my biceps soothingly. "I know how it must have been like for you and Dax when you heard Lana was gone, but all of us are here for her now.  
  
"We're gonna help her get through this, okay? As a family."  
  
I sniffed and tried to stop the quiet tears as my shoulders shook. "It won't stop the pain..."  
  
"She won't go through it alone. This is gonna be hard but we'll do it. Can't be any harder than patching up a bullet wound, right? Taking it out and disinfecting will hurt the most, some soreness, but slowly it'll go away."  
  
I knew Alexander was trying to make me feel better, and in a way, it was working. But I couldn't get over how selfish I felt for not telling her as soon as I got the chance. Dragging it out would only make it last longer, wouldn't it? It wouldn't save her any heartache in the end.  
  
But still, I nodded as my arms embraced my torso. "Do you think she'll be mad I didn't tell her when I could have?"  
  
"I'm sure she'll understand." He put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.  
  
I took a breath and wiped my cheeks, blinking rapidly. "Okay..." I mouthed.  
  
"Where's Leo?" I asked.  
  
"Harley's trying to show him around, I think."  
  
With one last sigh, I reigned in my composure. "I should...go talk to him. Will you come with me?"  
  
"Yeah, of course. Hey, what do you think of, y'know, his...imaginary friend?" He added as he held the curtain of vegetation aside for me.  
  
A microscopic shrug. "To be honest, I kind've feel like it's Dax."  
  
"Yeah, me too. Do you think it is?"  
  
"Do you?" I glanced at him.  
  
"I'm not sure I believe in stuff like that."  
  
I licked my lips. "I think I do. Leo is our little brother, after all. Dax would want to watch over him and Mom while they were in a place like that. Maybe that's why Leone is so unaffected by everything."  
  
"Yeah..." He sounded unsure.  
  
I would grow to regret my last statement. For suddenly the wail of a human child pierced the crisp air, followed by a barrage of ape cajoling.  
  
Alex and I barely even glanced at each other before we dashed to the source of the clamor. We found Leone crouched on the ground, his body tucked tightly into itself, making himself as small as possible. Even as we approached I could see his entire body shaking with fear, could hear the horrible, muffled moans coming from somewhere behind the knees.  
  
Harley was crouched maybe two feet from the boy, fear-grinning and hooting as he tried to edge closer. Armando was on the scene as well, crouched with one knee planted on the ground.  
  
"What happened?" I demanded as my brother and I slowed to a stop in the semi circle of apes watching. Some were eyeing Armando distrustfully, swaying on their knuckles as they watched his every move.  
  
"The boy took a fall." Armando answered. "I was trying to make sure he was alright when he screamed."  
  
I looked to a familiar gorilla and gestured. When the big ape nodded, confirming what Armando said, I looked to the child.  
  
"Leo? Leo, what's the matter?"  
  
He flinched hard and let out a terrified whimper as soon as my hand brushed his shoulder. He managed to tense up even more and jerked away so violently he almost toppled over.  
  
"How did you try to help him?" Alex asked, moving to stand beside Armando. The man rose to his feet and looked helplessly at the younger man.  
  
"I got down and tried to help him back to his feet. I wasn't rough with the child."  
  
"We don't think you were. Did you see where his eyes might have gone when you tried to help him up?" I asked.  
  
Harley knuckled his way over to me and pawed at my leg for my attention. _"What's wrong with him?"_    
  
_"I don't know.""_ I let him climb into my arms.  
  
"Ah, my shoulders, perhaps..." Armando replied uncertainly.  
  
After a quick scan of his clothing, Alexander made a suggestion. "Your name tag, maybe?"  
  
On his sweater was a worn but well-kept red and white ID badge sporting the hospital it belonged to and Armando's name above a bar code.  
  
Dr. Armando Montalbán (ITALICS)  
  
"Why would a name tag have made him react like this?" Armando frowned, glancing down at his tag.  
  
"Well, it does look a bit similar to the ones those doctors wore. Right, Rain?" Alexander added, glancing at me from where I was still trying to calm Leo, who'd quieted into silent sobs. "Didn't Dr. Milo's look sort of like this?"  
  
I gave the tag another glance, but I was unable to find much to recognize. "I'm not sure. I didn't pay much attention to his tags, I don't remember."  
  
"I do. Leo easily could've mistaken it for an OSIRIS badge."  
  
I glanced at my shivering little brother, teeth worrying at my lip. The thought of the pain and fear the poor boy must be going through caused my heart to twinge sympathetically.  
  
"He must be having a flashback." I mused.  
  
I set Harley down and pointed him to where his mother watched from the crowd. As the bonobo child knuckled away, I edged closer to my brother.  
  
"Leone, sweetie, calm down. You're safe." I murmured, but when nothing changed I wondered if he could hear me.  
  
So I changed tactics and repeated myself in Cherokee. _That_  got a reaction from the child. He froze and after some soft coaxing in the language, he peeked up over his knees through dark, tear soaked bangs.  
  
_"Little brother, come here."_   I opened my arms.  
  
A sniff and a shuddered breath, and Leo loosened enough to throw himself into my arms as quickly as he could. I wrapped him up and cupped the back of his head. He began to cry and sob uncontrollably again, and I knew I'd get no answers from him until he finally calmed. I stood up slowly, making sure the boy was secure and comfortable in my hold.  
  
"I think we'll have to wait for a bit. I'm going to take him to get some rest." I said, then turned to the apes still lingering.  
  
_"Will he be okay?"_ An orangutan child signed, brows and mouth pursed in confusion and concern.   
  
_"He'll be fine, little one."_ I gestured, then addressed the whole group. "Please forgive the disturbance."   
  
With a nod in goodbye, I turned with my little brother and made my way back to Home Tree.  
  
On the short walk back, I pondered the repercussions of Leo's beginning in life. His fit was not unlike many I'd seen before since that fateful battle in San Francisco two years ago. The event had traumatized many, leaving a good sized fraction of all the apes involved in the fighting with varying stages of post-traumatic stress syndrome.  
  
Drums were not something taken lightly anymore, for the loud sounds could trigger many and send them into episodes of panic and fear. Even Blue Eyes suffered from it, and he often still had nightmares and woke the whole family up screaming. Many a night, he'd even woken Caesar and Cornelia in their penthouse roost forty feet above us and sent them barreling down to see what the problem was.  
  
On some nights where he didn't scream he would thrash about in his sleep, nearly knocking me flat out of our hammock. It had concerned both of us enough that he would sleep on the extra moss bed to make sure he didn't jostle the newborn twins or myself.  
  
Now, if drums were going to be used, the whole village knew beforehand so those who didn't want to be around had time to leave the village and get out of earshot. On a bad day, my husband would be among them.  
  
I wondered how bad Leo's experiences in that horrible facility must have been. Surely they would have taken into thought that he was just a baby, just a toddler? A sick feeling in my stomach and the trembling in Leo's body made me doubt they'd been very considerate of his age if something as small as a identification badge could set him off.  
  
I shushed Leo and murmured in Cherokee when his crying began anew inside the hollow. I got him out of his shoes and slid onto my hammock, wrapped him tightly with a warm fur blanket and began to rock slowly. Leo quickly fell asleep to a back rub and a lullaby our mother used to sing to me when I was small.  
  
My tired sigh lifted and lowered his body like a lazy log at sea. _This is going to be a lot harder than we'd hoped_ , I mused 

  
  
XxXxX

  
_Woya - dove_

* * *

  
**I LIIIIIIIIVE!!**  
  
**I know what you guys are thinking. It's been two years. We thought you were dead.**  
  
**Well I'm not, and I'm happy to report, I'm back. I apologize from the bottom of my heart for such a long wait, I never meant to let it take this long. I hope everyone's been doing well and had a good holiday season. I can't promise regular updates, seeing as I'm in my last stretch of high school and graduate in June, 2018. But I'm for sure going to be focusing on writing again, I will finish this story if it kills me.**  
  
**So who else saw War? That shit crushed me and I am still recovering. What did you guys think of it? I cried a lot and I'm still crying inside. They did that. How dare they. How could they. Rest assured, I love all of you and these characters too much to go all wftpota on you, or as I call it, wtf-pota.**  
  
**Cheers, I would LOVE to hear what you guys have to say about this chapter, pls share your thoughts. Comments and reviews really do help writers and authors way more than one might think. A simple "whoa that happened" or "wait what why" can produce multiple paragraphs at once. It's some weird sorcery shit, but I promise it works lol**  
  
**Missed you guys, so glad to be back! See you hopefully soon, lol <3 **


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